Facing Change
by OptimisticLivvy
Summary: Alice Carter was just a normal human when she moved to Bon Temps... then she met Eric Northman and she became not-so-normal. Eric/OC
1. Merlotte's

**Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood. I only own Alice.**

**I decided it might be fun to write a True Blood fic, considering I absolutely love the show! I hope you enjoy it.**

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Alice still found it bizarre that she was moving to America. _America_. Of all places she moved to, she had to pick one in a different time zone, so it would be harder to talk to her family on the phone. There was the internet for that, but perhaps not speaking to her family all that often might help her clear her head.

But she didn't have a car, she had to take a cab to her new home, which was just outside Shreveport and near a place called Bon Temps, in the state of Louisiana. Alice wasn't entirely sure why she had chosen the little house there, but the house itself seemed nice enough when she went there a few months ago to look at it, and maybe the locals did too.

She thanked and paid the cab driver more than she should have, as he taken her to pick up the keys for her house, and got out of the vehicle, heading to the boot to get out her two suitcases and backpack. A little excited, Alice quickly went to the front door and fished the keys out of her pocket, opening the door to her new home. She left her luggage in the hallway and decided to tour round her home, trying to get used to it.

It wasn't too big and it wasn't too small. The downstairs area had a living room, kitchen and dining room and the upstairs had two fairly large bedrooms and a bathroom. To Alice, it was going to end up being the place of perfection.

A few pieces of furniture had been left behind, such as the sofa, the bed and wardrobe upstairs. Alice had only needed to pay a small amount extra for that, and it was only offered to her because the couple who had previous lived there knew she had been travelling from England. Now because she had travelled from England, her accent was quite entertaining for the cab driver, and to the woman at the check in desk, yet it was equally entertaining for Alice to hear the strong Southern accents they all had.

It was obvious her first week or so here was going to be filled with talk about accents and the British stereotyping.

Since she was having furniture delivered to her not for another week, Alice made do with putting as many clothes as she could into the single wardrobe she had before changing out of her jeans into her shorts. It was pretty warm out here, warmer than she was used to in England, at least.

Considering she had nothing else to do for the day, Alice decided she might wander to Shreveport, and maybe have a look around. She didn't bother calling a cab, as it was walking distance, not to mention she didn't feel like bringing her purse with her.

After putting on some trainers, Alice left the house and locked the door behind her, immediately feeling the hot sun beating down on the back of her neck – the heat was even worse out here than indoors. Walking down the street, Alice smiled at the neighbours in their front gardens who greeted her with a friendly 'hello.'

Maybe living here was going to be quite easy.

As she wandered around, Alice noticed how quiet Shreveport was. Perhaps a little too quiet. There were hardly any locals out in the town, apart from those who ran the shops or were bothered to even come out. Finding this a little unnerving, Alice hurried along, eventually finding herself outside of a bar. That was a shut. She looked at what it was called.

_Fangtasia._

Alice chuckled to herself, feeling somewhat relieved. It explained why there was hardly anyone about. The majority of Shreveport must have been vampires, and it was the middle of the day, so naturally the only vampire bar around was probably the only source of activity in this little place.

It seemed as if there was nothing to do here but to return home.

Only when Alice got home, she thought about going to Bon Temps, only that required her getting a cab there. She hesitated in picking up her purse a mobile, calling for a cab. About fifteen minutes later, a cab came and she hopped in the back of it.

"Where to?" said the driver, a male.

"Bon Temps, please," Alice replied and they headed off.

At first, the pair of them were both silence, until the driver spoke up.

"I couldn't help but notice, ma'am, but your accent is clearly English."

"Yeah..." she said, a little sheepishly. "I just moved here today, actually. Well, I got here yesterday but spent the night in the airport hotel and got to my house this morning."

"Ah right... but why Shreveport of all places?"

"I have no idea," Alice shrugged. "I liked the look of the house, I guess, and the people who sold it to me seemed _lovely_ so I couldn't resist."

The driver shook his head, laughing to himself.

"Sorry, but what's so funny?"

"It's nothin'. Just that this place is a magnet for all kinds of trouble – supernatural trouble, that is."

"I happened to notice Fangtasia when I went for a little walk in the town."

"Avoid that place. Just don't go there," he told her seriously.

"Why? It seems like the only fun place to go in Shreveport."

"It's filled with vampires – well, that much was obvious – and fangbangers."

"Um... fangbanger?"

The driver laughed once again, only more so at what 'fangbanger' sounded like when Alice said it. He collected himself when he saw in the rear view mirror that Alice had raised an eyebrow at him.

"They uhhh- they like to bit bitten by vampires, and they also errr... have errr-"

"Sex with them?"

"Yeah! Yeah... they literally throw themselves at those unde-" the driver stopped himself, trying not to be rude about the vampires. "They throw themselves at those um, creatures."

Alice nodded.

"So basically similar to prostitutes but with more blood drinking involved because they're with vampires."

"Yeah, basically."

"Fair enough."

They continued on in silence once more, before they came to Bon Temps. The driver spoke once more.

"Now 'cause it's towards the end of lunch time and it doesn't look as if you've had lunch, I'm gonna drive you round to Merlotte's. Does the best burgers I've ever eaten."

"Okay, well thanks," Alice said brightly to the man.

After about ten more minutes, they reached Merlotte's, and Alice paid the man before hurrying inside. It was so much cooler in there, and she appreciated that greatly. She got a couple of stares, which was to be expected as she was new to the place, but after a few moments those who stared went back to what they were eating, and talking with their friends.

Alice went and sat at an empty table, looking at the menu and a few minutes later a waitress came up to her, smiling.

"Hi, welcome to Merlotte's, what can I get you?" the waitress said, in her fairly high Southern accent. She had her blonde hair tied into a tight pony tail and there was a smallish gap between her two front teeth.

"Umm, burger and fries, please," Alice replied. "And yes, before you say anything, I am from England. You may want to tell your co-workers that," she wasn't being rude, she just knew that anyone might ask her if she was from England. By just saying it, it would save a lot of time and effort. The waitress chuckled.

"Will do," she wrote down the order. "You been here long?"

"I got to Lousisiana yesterday and moved into my house today."

"Where abouts are you living?"

"Just outside of Shreveport."

"Shreveport," the waitress raised and eyebrow. "Seriously? That's where-"

"I saw Fangtasia, yes," Alice cut across her.

"Anyway... will we be seeing you a lot round here?"

"Yeah, maybe," Alice considered. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Sookie, and I am going to go get your food. Any drinks as well?"

"Cola?"

"Sure thing," Sookie gave one last smile before walking off and Alice relaxed. She hadn't realised it, but she had been tensed up when she was talking with Sookie, probably because the waitress seemed a little... odd. Plus, she sure did ask as lot of questions, but Alice disregarded that as she was the new person around here, so naturally people would ask questions.

A few moments later, Sookie came back with Alice's drink and about fifteen minutes after that, her lunch.

"Thanks, Sookie."

Alice started to eat her lunch in peace, when she noticed that some of the other waitresses were staring at her, and also a man with dirty blonde hair behind the counter. As soon as that little group noticed she was staring back at them, they quickly looked away, pretending to be busy. Well, they probably were busy, but at the current moment, they seemed to only be pretending.

Rolling her eyes, Alice carried on with her lunch, trying not to pay any attention to who may be staring at her. It was unnerving, knowing that people who she didn't know were constantly looking at her just because she had come here recently, and she didn't like it. Alice just wanted to be left alone by these strangers whilst she ate her lunch.

When she finished, Sookie came back and took away her plate, asking if she wanted anything else.

"No, I'm good thanks. I think I might just pay and go," Alice replied, placing the cash on the table. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," said Sookie, and just before she walked off, she asked Alice something. "Hey, if you live in Shreveport, how did you get here?"

"I got a cab."

"Oh right... well, I get off my shift in a couple of minutes, I'd be happy to give you a ride home if you don't want to pay for a cab again."

"No, it's fine."

"But I insist-"

"Sookie, it's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes! If I didn't want to get a cab, I could walk."

"You would walk? I know it's not far, but it's damn hot outside," Sookie said to her, disbelievingly. Alice looked at her and sighed.

"If you really want to give me a lift home, then okay," she smiled, as did Sookie.

"I'll be back in a few."

Alice nearly laughed to herself as Sookie walked off. She wondered what made the woman insist on driving her home – it was only late afternoon, what could be so bad about Alice getting a cab or walking, besides the heat? She was starting to get a feeling that maybe something weird was going on in Bon Temps, as the two people she had spoken to today came out as a little averse to Fangtasia, and the fact she lived so close to it.

Even though it was a vampire bar, it was obvious humans could still go to it, so maybe Sookie and the cab driver were worried she might get mixed up in all that. It was weird. She could do what she liked and she knew how to keep safe, so why shouldn't she go to Fangtasia if she wanted to?

The drive back to her house was relatively quiet, although Sookie kept shooting side glances at Alice, which was making the latter a little more than uncomfortable. Alice was relieved when they were reaching Shreveport, because she could give Sookie directions to her house and that meant no more awkward stares.

"Thanks, Sookie," Alice mumbled.

"It was no problem," Sookie beamed at her. "You need anything, just ask."

"Again, thank you. I'll see you around," Alice hopped out of the car and hurried on indoors.

It wasn't that she didn't like Sookie – the woman perfectly nice and friendly – but she couldn't shake the fact that when she was around Sookie, it felt like someone was really trying to get inside her head, or that someone _was_ inside her head. Alice wasn't sure if she was imagining it and that it was just to do with the heat of the day, but it still freaked her out a little.

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**Feedback is greatly appreciated.**

**Livvy x**


	2. Compton

**I know I got this chapter out kinda quickly, but it's only because I've been writing it on the bus and late at night when I should be sleeping... enjoy.**

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The next week passed quite quickly for Alice. She would go to Merlotte's every day for lunch, and she began to sit up at the bar, chatting to Sam Merlotte, the owner. Everyone who worked there had managed to get used to her accent and so the questions were no longer asked. They were very nice people, however Alice had gained a particular fondness for Sam, as she had been chatting with him the most.

"You know if you need any help with your furniture, I'd be happy to oblige," Sam gave Alice a sweet smile and she blushed a little.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Sam, I don't want to be an inconvenience to you."

"It's absolutely no inconvenience, Alice. When does it arrive?"

"Three o'clock," Alice replied brightly. Sam then turned to look at the clock on high on the wall behind him. Alice followed his gaze and and her mouth dropped open. It was 2:55. She then smiled sheepishly at Sam. "Hey Sam... Do you think you could give me a hand?"

Sam gave a small chuckle.

"Sure thing," he then yelled back towards the kitchen. "Lafayette! You're in charge for a couple of hours!"

"Uh huh, you bitches be good," Lafayette replied. Alice laughed – she really did like Lafayette's sassy ways of talking and just his life in general. She hadn't spoken to him much since he was always in the kitchen, but he seemed like a bag of fun and he really spoke his mind.

"Thanks for doing this Sam, really," Alice said as they walked outside.

"I told you, it's no problem," Sam unlocked the car and they both got inside. "I'll get you to your house as quick as possible without getting arrested."

"Fair enough," Alice chuckled.

"Anyway, why Shreveport of all places?" Sam asked her as he began to drive.

"Oh god, not you as well!" Alice sighed, exasperated. "First the cab driver that brought me to yours last week, then Sookie, Arlene and now you... I chose Shreveport because... I don't know! I just fell in love with the house, I guess... plus sunny Louisiana – who wouldn't want to live here?"

"Okay, I guess, I was just a bit curious."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have got annoyed like that."

"It's fine. So Sookie and Arlene have been intrigued by your choice of town, have they?"

"You could say that... I think they're just worried I might spend my nights at Fangtasia and become a fangbanger, and even if I wanted to do that – trust me, I don't – they shouldn't judge, especially Sookie if she's with that Bill Compton who _is a vampire._ Or they might be worried I could _fall in love_ with a vampire and again, Sookie can't judge me on that if it happened. Not that I'd want to fall in love with a vampire or anything supernatural, but if it happens, it happens, I wouldn't be able to help that, would I?"

Sam considered this for a moment.

"You raise the same point as Sookie regarding vampires, and I still disagree with it. They can't love and they are ruthless killers and that is all I am gonna say on that matter. Don't go chasing around vampires, Alice, you'll only get hurt."

"That's very sweet of you Sam... to put your mind at rest I can assure you I won't chasing after any vampires... or anything supernatural, I'd like to add."

Sam gave a half smile, and Alice looked at the clock in his car. Quarter past three. She hoped the guys with her furniture wouldn't be angry. They reached her house within the next ten minutes to find that her stuff had just been left on the front porch. Sam and Alice glanced at each other before getting out of the car and taking it inside. It didn't take too long and afterwards Sam offered to help set it up.

"I'm pretty useless with putting together things and I failed my resistant materials class, so um... yes, please."

"Resistant materials?" Sam was a little confused.

"Probably known as woodwork, over here?" she offered, and Sam nodded in understanding.

They both set to work, Sam mainly doing the building and heavy lifting as Alice really didn't want to touch anything in case it fell to pieces, but she did make him regular cups of tea and coffee, reading out the instructions if need be and passing him the correct screws or holding things to steady them.

They were done with everything by about half past six, and Alice sent Sam on his way back to his grill, simply because he had Lafayette in charge longer than need be and there was a chance that pure chaos may have ensued.

Alice sat down in her newly furnished living room, content and then she remembered that she should probably have dinner... then she also remembered that she had forgotten to go out to the food shop.

She would probably have to go out for dinner. Alice reminded herself she needed to stop eating out as soon as she was settled in properly, because it wouldn't be good for her in the long run. Frustrated, Alice grabbed her jacket and bag and left her home for the second time that day.

She remembered there was a small cafe that was in Shreveport, so decided it was her best bet to head there.

It was getting fairly dark down the street, so Alice hurried along, not wanting to be caught out by anything nasty. However that wish was short lived when she heard a pair of footsteps a few metres behind her.

No... Two pairs.

Actually, three.

Sneaking a glance behind her, Alice saw what could be two men and a woman. Facing forward once more, she quickened her pace, only to be stopped short by one of males coming in front of her. It was obvious now that there were three vampires wanting her blood. She looked at the man, trying not to show fear. He was quite tall and had a bald head and tattoos..

It was also obvious that the other man and the woman were right behind her. Alice tried to remain calm amd keep her breathing steady, but that wasn't happening, and she heard the female behind her laugh at the attempt to do so.

"You smell absolutely divine," said the male behind her. "Who wants to go first?"

Alice heard three clicks happen simultaneously and she knew that their fangs had come down. The one in front of her was almost trembling, as if trying to restrain himself from wanting to rip her neck out and drain her. Alice knew there wasn't anything she could do now, as no-one could run from a hungry vampire. Even if she wanted to run, she was stood frozen to the spot, silently panicking and pleading that someone might come along and stop the trio.

"I do," said the trembling one, and before Alice knew it, there was a sharp pain in her neck as he plunged his fangs into it. She cried out and began to struggle against the vampires behind her that were now holding her. She hit the one that was drinking her blood, multiple times, only this had no effect.

Alice's legs began to give out underneath her, then she heard a third man's voice.

"Stop!"

She felt the fangs leave her neck and as she fell to the ground, she moved a hand over the wound on her neck, trying to stop the blood flow. She wasn't really paying attention to what was going on, but soon enough the three vampires ran off. The fourth person, the one who had saved her life, crouched down in front of her. He too had fangs, but his face was kind, gentle and he was trying to make sure she was alright. He had quite messy brown hair and bright blue eyes. Alice knew who this man was, even though she had not met him before, but Sookie had given her a description of this man.

"Are you Bill Compton?" She asked him. The man looked a little confused as to how she knew him, but he nodded. Then there was recognition on his face.

"Alice... Carter?"

"Yeah. You're um, you're Sookie's boyfriend - she told me a lot about you."

"As she had told me about you," he smiled. He then frowned and came a little closer to her, and carefully moved her hand from her neck. He then bit into his own hand and retracted his fangs. He placed his hand against Alice's neck and she felt the wound heal up.

"T-thank you," she said. Bill helped her stand up, and he gave her a tissue, which she used to wipe away any of the excess blood on her skin.

"Where were you heading tonight?" They began to carry on walking in the direction that had been going.

"Somewhere out in Shreveport. There's a cafe that I can get a bite to eat in."

"Okay then. I would escort you there myself, but I better go make sure those three don't come back."

Alice nodded and Bill was gone in a blur.

"Thanks," she called out to the air.

She wanted to get out of the open quickly, afraid that the trio of vampires might come back. Alice didn't pay much attention to where she was walking, for she was too lost in her own thoughts. She had just been attacked by three vampires... That was scary, but why her of all people? It wasn't like they picked on random strangers... Or did they? Alice had only been here for a week but she was getting pretty damn confused about everything and she kept having weird feelings, especially the one around Sookie, the one where it felt like someone was inside her head.

"Can I help you? Or at least see some I.D?" Said a female voice in front of her.

Alice snapped out of her thoughts and realised she had been standing still for quite some time now, staring up at a sign, a sign that read Fangtasia. It was not where she wanted to be, but something had obviously brought her there, almost like her subconscious had a secret fascination with the place. She could use a drink right about now.

"Umm, sure," Alice gave the pretty lady in the tight leather a smile before fishing out her I.D card.

"Twenty four? You look younger than that."

"People say it's my lips that do that."

"They got that right," replied the woman, smirking, making Alice feel uncomfortable. "Go on ahead inside."

"Right..."

Alice slowly went past the woman and into the night club and bar. Surprisingly, it was what she had expected.

The walls were a deep red colour and everyone in sight was dressed in black, either sitting at the tables or in booths or at the bar, drinking and watching the dancers up on the two stages. The dancers were vampires, judging by their speed and how they were able to hold onto the poles for a prolonged amount of time. To be fair, they were pretty good, although Alice expected a few human dancers at least.

It was interesting because she could immediately tell who was human and who wasn't. The humans would literally be begging the vampires to be them, or she would see the vampires dragging off an excited yet pathetic person somewhere a little more private... Well, probably the restrooms or something like that.

Alice finally made her way up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools when a vampire whizzed into sight. She jumped a little, but then relaxed when she realised it was the bartender.

"What do you want?" He asked her. He seemed quite grumpy, but Alice supposed his dark shoulder length hair didn't help that matter at all.

"Just something alcoholic, please, I don't care what."

"Okay then."

Alice turned away from the vampire for the moment and she noticed a third stage with three chairs, one of which was occupied. It was occupied by by an arrogant looking man with shoulder length blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was whispering something to someone, the woman who had been outside the bar.

Then the sitting vampire finished what he was saying and made eye contact with her.

"I got you a gin and tonic, you look like a lightweight," said the vampire behind the bar.

Not taking her eyes away from the one up on the stage, Alice absently mindedly reached round for her drink, a bit too fast as she knocked out of the man's hand. She accidentally brushed his hand whilst doing so and was turning back round to apologise when the weirdest thing happened.

And every single vampire in the club had their attention on her.

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**I couldn't actually decide which series this was going to be set in, having started out on seasons 4, then 5 and I recently watched 1 and am part of the way through 2. Then I went to lovely old wikipedia and thought halfway through season 1 sounded like a good place to start, so yeah...**

**Anyway, I can't resist a good cliffhanger. Your thoughts?**

**Livvy x**


	3. Fangtasia

**Again with the quick updates! I know it's school time, but I've been ill the past couple of days, so I've been watching True Blood and writing this :)**

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Pam was getting a little bored outside, like she did every night. There was always the sudden rush of vampires to come in and get a drink as soon as Fangtasia opened, followed by the pathetic, horny humans and then there would be hardly anyone coming by. Well, there would be a few stragglers who were already drunk enough without going to another bar, let alone run by people like herself. She was about to head back inside when a newcomer came along, a newcomer than smelt absolutely _gorgeous._

She even looked gorgeous too, which was even better.

Then the woman just stopped and was staring up at the Fangtasia sign, but it seemed like she didn't even realise what she was doing. _Was she high?_ Pam couldn't smell anything on her apart from the dried blood on her collar, so the answer to that was _no,_ this new girl was not high. However she was in a bit of a daydream.

"Can I help you? Or at least see some I.D?" Pam asked, almost rolling her eyes. The girl seemed to snap out of her trance.

"Umm, sure," she seemed a little confused, but came a bit closer and handed over and I.D card. Her name was Alice Carter, was twenty four years old and she lived in England. To be fair, Pam was shocked at her age, for she looked so young, and fresh...

"Twenty four? You look younger than that," she handed back the card and Alice put it away.

"People say it's my lips that do that."

"They got that right," Pam couldn't help herself. This girl's lips were pretty plump and luscious looking. "Go on ahead inside."

"Right..."

Poor girl. She still seemed so confused as she walked inside. Pam inhaled deeply as Alice walked past. She would probably attract a fair amount of attention smelling like that.

Seeing as there was no-one else around for now, Pam decided to head inside and tell her maker of this English newcomer who smelt like something of the gods. Upon going inside, she saw that Alice was just standing there, taking in her surroundings. Cute.

Pam ran up to her maker, sitting on his throne watching the crowd. He looked up at her, waiting for her to speak.

"Notice the new one come in?"

"Yes I did, the smell of her was enough to alert me. She seems... confused."

"She's English."

"What's her name?"

"Alice Carter. She's in my vault and she is staring at you."

Eric looked at Alice and held her gaze. He watched in amusement as she tried to reach round for her drink without breaking eye contact, only to knock it out of Longshadow's hand.

Then there was a spike. A spike of something around her, and Eric couldn't tell what it was. Neither could Pam. Apparently, the rest of the vampires that were looking at her were unable to tell either. Even the music had been stopped. In fact, this little human seemed as shocked as the rest of them and got off the stool she had been sitting on, slowly backing away from Longshadow.

She was frightened of him, but why?

"What the _fuck_ was that?" Pam said.

"I don't know, Pam, just get her up here," Eric commanded her and then she was right next to the girl, talking to her. Alice looked up at Eric one last time before following Pam, trying her best to ignore the stares from everyone else. "Just get back to what you were doing!" he shouted out to the club and the music resumed as did the rest of the general noise.

Pam returned and stood back next to Eric, leaving Alice standing in front of him. Her shoulders were shaking slightly and she looked a little pale. Something about Longshadow had obviously frightened her, but it also looked like she was afraid of Eric too. He wanted to know more about what had happened down there, and it would prove better if he just went straight into it.

"So tell me, Miss Carter-"

"How do you know my name?" she cut across him.

"You're in my vault and naturally I told my maker," said Pam.

"Now, as I was saying," Eric gave Alice a pointed look. "What happened down there?"

"I... I don't know."

Eric shook his head slightly. He then gestured at the chair to his right.

"Please, sit."

"Um... okay," Alice sat down on the wooden chair cautiously, and tried to avoid looking anywhere but Eric.

"Tell me again, Miss Carter, what happened down there? And it's rude not to look at the person whom you are talking with," he told her calmly.

"I told you, I don't know," Alice insisted, looking Eric directly in the eye. "I don't even understand what happened down there, it's never happened before."

Eric paused for a moment before answering. Surprisingly, the human wasn't lying. She was telling the truth and she was still scared for her life, as she didn't know what he was going to do with her. Even Eric didn't know what he was going to do with her.

"You're confused."

"She walked _in here_ confused, Eric, and she is going to walk _out_ confused," Pam told him, unamused.

"Shut up, Pam," he growled at his child. Eric then calmed himself as he continued to talk to Alice. "I am going to ask you one final time: what happened between yourself and Longshadow?"

"I... I accidentally knocked his hand, but when I did, I saw something, and I don't know why I saw it or what it meant."

"What did you see?"

"Longshadow attacking a blonde girl, right here in this club," Alice told him, solemnly. "I don't understand what it had anything to do with or exactly what it was."

"Thank you, Miss Carter, for managing to answer my question. Now, I want you to do something for me."

"If I do this for you, please may I leave?"

Eric chuckled, making Alice irritated.

"I'm serious, because quite frankly I have had a rough night. I come out to go get something to eat but I get attacked by three vampires who I am saved from by Bill, who manages to heal me and I end up here and see something strange as soon as I accidentally brush a person's hand. Now I'm stuck up here with an arrogant bastard like you and I have never wanted to drop kick a person more in my entire life."

"I don't think I like your attitude, Miss Carter," Eric said with a dark look on his face.

"That's good, because I don't like you particularly much."

"Then I am glad we're on the same page," he gave a cocky half-smile, before becoming serious. "I only ask of you this one favour. Take my hand," he offered out his hand and Alice looked at it sceptically for a few moments.

"No," she finally said.

"Do you want to go home tonight?"

"You have no idea how much I want to get out of here."

"Then do as I say."

"Vampiro gilipollas," she muttered after a moment.

"Sabo muchos idiomas, mi amor, incluso Español."

"Te jodan, Señor...?"

"Soy Eric Northman y con mucho gusto _te folle_," he smirked at her, and Pam rolled her eyes after a moment, whilst Alice was left seething.

"If you two are done talking in Spanish, get to whatever it was you wanted her to do."

"I know _exactly_ what I want her to do," Eric said, mischief dancing in his eyes. That was the last straw for Alice. She hadn't even been around this man for ten minutes and already she just wanted to punch him, slap him, kick him, just do anything she could to vent out her anger and frustration on him. She had come to Fangtasia just to get a drink – well, she hadn't exactly been aware she had been on her way to Fangtasia, but she just went along with it, so to speak. Either way, after the situation with the three vampires, Alice really wanted to get drunk somewhere.

Now her patience was being tested by a vampire, which was not a good thing, especially if she did retaliate. It was like she wanted to retaliate, but at the same time she didn't, because he _was_ a vampire. A powerful one at that too. Unfortunately for Alice, her emotions got the better of her and she slapped Eric across the cheek. Hard.

In that moment in which Alice had hit him, she saw something again.

It was Eric, along with two other people, furiously attacking something, or someone... maybe not attacking, but drinking from someone... He really was quite a ruthless person.

In a blind panic, Alice tried to get away from Eric, forgetting that she was sitting down on a chair, so her scramble backwards caused her to fall off of it and hit her head on the ground. She sat up, dazed and she touched the side of her head, feeling a warm wetness there. Alice felt really disorientated and her vision became double; Pam was right about one thing, she was going to come out of here confused.

Alice could just about tell that Eric was crouching down in front of her, roughly pulling her up by the arm and the next thing she knew, she was in an office of sorts, lying on a sofa. She remembered something else from what she saw, and that was the victim had been lying on a sofa.

Was she the victim in this?

Alice tried to get off the sofa, but strong hands pinned her down and she struggled against them, only to no avail.

"Stop wasting your energy, Miss Carter," Eric told her. She couldn't quite focus on his face properly and only mumbled something incoherent in response, stopping struggling. He then let go of her.

"Did you... see...?" she got out, noticing that Eric had moved to sit on the arm of the sofa by her feet.

"Did I see what you saw? Yes, I did. I'm assuming Longshadow saw as well when you touched him."

"Oh god..."

"You also made quite a scene out there. I moved you in here because your head is bleeding, and I really could not let someone as useful as you be drained."

"Thanks..." Alice replied sarcastically.

"If you took my blood, your head would heal faster."

"I'd rather not," Alice sat up on the sofa, feeling slightly less woozy.

"You know it's rude to turn down an offer of help."

"Yeah, well, as I said before, I don't like you much."

"That's funny, because I think I am starting to like you," he gave a half smile.

"No, you don't like me, you are just interested in my bizarre... _thing_ that I can do."

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge on that one, Miss Carter. That aside... what are you? You smell... different, but I like it."

"I'm human," she said sternly. "A freaky human, apparently."

"Not freaky. Different. Special."

"Whatever, I don't believe it," Alice sighed. "Mr Northman, please may I go home?"

"Oh you're _so_ English – so overly polite."

"Excuse me if that's how I was brought up," Alice said, and then inwardly scolded herself, because that was only fuel for Eric's teasing. "Now, Mr Northman, please?"

"You may go," Eric said, after some thought. "However I would _very_ much like to see you again, Miss Carter. Perhaps next time we can skip past the formalities. I'm also thinking that you should check into a hospital if you really detest the idea of drinking my blood. Damaged goods are never useful."

"I say it again: vampiro gilipollas," Alice wasn't particularly fond of the idea of going to a hospital, but it would get her out of drinking Eric's blood.

"_Me_ jodan, Señorita Carter."

Alice rolled her eyes and then stood up, only to collapse back down again, except Eric managed to catch her and put her down onto the sofa gently. He then lightly touched the area surrounding her head wound, and she winced. He brought his finger up to his mouth and tasted the blood that was on it.

"Delicioso," he remarked, and Alice huffed. "I think you would much prefer taking my blood, would you not?"

"How could you tell?"

"How could I tell you didn't like the idea of going to a hospital? I could smell your fear double," Eric sat down next to Alice, and she shuffled away from him a little.

"Fine. I'm only doing this so I can go home."

"Fair enough," Eric's fangs then came down and he bit into his wrist, offering it to Alice who cautiously took it, before slowly putting it to her mouth.

Alice didn't like the taste of the blood at first as she began drinking, but then she started to enjoy it, not wanting to stop. It was no wonder there were V addicts, the blood was intense stuff. However as she felt the wound on her head close up, she dropped Eric's wrist in disgust and ran out of there as fast as she could.

* * *

**Now, my reasoning for Eric speaking Spanish is that he has been around for 1000 years, he can speak Russian, obviously Swedish because it is his native language and so why can't he not speak Spanish? Anyway, here are the translations:**

**Vampiro gilipollas = vampire wanker**

**Sabo muchos idiomas, mi amor, incluso Español = I know many languages, my love,* including Spanish.**

**Te jodan, Señor...? = Fuck you, Mr...?**

**Soy Eric Northman y con mucho gusto _te jodan =_ I am Eric Northman and I will glady _fuck you._**

**Delicioso = delicious**

***I could not think of another more appropriate term of endearment :P**

**So tell me what you thought of the interaction between Eric and Alice!**

**Livvy x**


	4. Stackhouse

**Merry Christmas everyone! I know it's a couple of days after Christmas, but still... anyway enjoy.**

* * *

As soon as Alice returned home, she pretty much threw herself on top of the bed, forgetting that she had blood in her hair and around her mouth, so waking up the next day was a bit of a shock to her. She was still wearing the same floral dress and her leather jacket from the night before, and Alice thought she looked worse than she felt.

Then there was a knock on the front door, and Alice realised there was no way she'd be able to get changed quick enough so that she wouldn't have to explain why she looked the way she did. On her way to the front door, she walked past the mirror hanging on the wall in the hallway and she spotted the dried blood around her mouth.

The knocking on the door sounded again.

"Alice! It's Sookie! I really need to talk to you!"

"I'll- I'll be there in a minute," Alice called back. She then ran upstairs to get a flannel, and she dampened it before cleaning her mouth up as she headed back downstairs to let Sookie inside. When she opened the door, Sookie gave her a questioning look.

"You were wearing that outfit yesterday... Alice, is that _blood_ in your hair?"

"You needed to talk to me about something?" Alice hid the flannel from Sookie's view, as it had blood on it, but the other woman didn't really seem to notice anyway.

"Something really bad has happened to Bill," Sookie started as soon as Alice lead her into the living room. "These three vampires showed up at Merlotte's then Bill went with them, and now... someone blew up their house and Bill was with them, but I'm sure he got away! He had to have gotten away Alice!"

"You're not sure though, are you?"

"No I'm not..." Sookie sighed. "Anyway, what happened to you?"

"You're not gonna like what I'm about to say, Sookie..."

"Alice, what happened?"

"I was attacked by three vampires, but Bill saved my life. Then my feet took me to um, Fangtasia," she replied, uneasy. Sookie's mouth dropped open in shock.

"You went to _Fangtasia?_ Of all the places, Fangtasia?"

"I wanted a drink... anyway, that's not the worst part..."

Alice told Sookie everything. She didn't want to talk about the stuff she had seen, but her story wouldn't have made any sense without it. Sookie didn't appear mad with Alice, until she mentioned the part where she drank Eric's blood – although in Alice's defence, it was because she wanted to avoid going to a hospital, but it was safe to say Sookie was absolutely fuming by the time she was done.

"Do you have any idea what it means when you drink a vampire's blood?! It means that you _belong _to them... well, you have to let them drink your blood too, but you're just about halfway there with it!"

Alice did not know that.

"Oh god... he's really expecting me to come back now, isn't he?"

"Yes he is," Sookie folded her arms and gave Alice a stern look. Alice shifted uncomfortably under Sookie's gaze, and she knew what was happening.

"Stop it! Stop trying to get inside my head, Sookie!" she cried out angrily.

Sookie looked taken aback and Alice looked at her apologetically, running a hand through her ginger hair, stopping at the matted part of it where the blood had dried.

"Look, Sookie... I can feel it when you try to read my thoughts. I know what you were looking for, but I did not enjoy drinking Northman's blood! Well... I sort of did, but like I said, I was disgusted by it! God..." Alice sank down onto the sofa. "I've not had a normal couple of days... anyway, I was wondering... do you have any idea what I could have seen?"

"My first guess would have been the future," Sookie sat down next to Alice.

"I think that was what Northman was trying to do last night, when he wanted me to take his hand. He wanted to know if it was the future I could see," she said quietly.

"Probably is then... my advice would be to stay away from him as best as you can."

"Yeah... that would be a start. Urgh, I've only been here a week but I've run and got myself into a sticky situation..."

"Yes you have," Sookie chuckled. There was a moment of silence between them.

"Sorry, Sookie, but I may have to kick you out now – I am in desperate need of a shower and I need to wrap my head around this."

"Sure," Sookie got up and Alice followed her to the front door. "If you need anything just call me."

"Will do," Alice smiled. "Also, how did you know where I live?"

"Sam told me when I said I needed to find you."

"Oh right. Well, see you later," she held the door open for the blonde woman who slowly walked out and got into her car. Alice didn't shut the door until Sookie had driven off. She headed upstairs and hurried undressed, getting into a nice warm shower.

Alice forgot about everything whilst in there, just enjoying the bit of peace and quiet she finally had after a strange few days. It was odd though, despite not thinking about last night's previous events, Alice ending up straying back to thinking of Eric. They way he had been so... flippant. That was a good word to describe him. Arrogant, demanding, raging bitch... yes, she had found the perfect way to describe Eric Northman.

However there were a couple of other things about him that weren't so negative. He seemed to have a puppy-dog look about him. It was his eyes, his beautiful, piercing blue-

No. That was just his blood in her talking. Alice didn't want to think positive things about him, because of how he acted last night, like she was just some insignificant object. Well, she could agree she was insignificant, but not an object. He had probably figured out by now that she could see the future, and would want to use that to his advantage... which was just frustrating.

Damn it. Alice had wanted to take a shower not only to clean herself, but to get rid of any thoughts of the previous night and now they were all rushing back – Eric, Longshadow, the whole scene with Bill... she had really gotten herself into a right mess. She would now most likely avoid all contact with people for a few days, maybe weeks and just try to forget about everything that had happened in the past two days and try to live normally. Yes, that sounded good to Alice.

However, it appeared that no-one wanted to leave Alice alone, for when she stepped out of the shower, there was yet another knock at the front door. She grumbled in annoyance, and threw some underwear and the first dress she picked up, and went to answer the door towel-drying her hair in the process. She was surprised to find Sam standing there, wondering what he was doing at her house but then Alice put two and two together, realising that Sookie would have been the one to tell him what happened to her.

"Sookie doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut, does she?" Alice stood aside and allowed Sam to come inside.

"She was worried about you," Sam told her. Alice simply rolled her eyes.

"Have you come to scold me about Northman?"

"He's-"

"I know he's dangerous, I know he's a git, blah blah blah, I get it Sam. I really do. 'Stay away from Eric Northman.' Usually I don't appreciate people telling me what to do, but for once I'm listening, however I was _planning_ on staying away from him anyway."

Sam stood looking at her in shock for a moment.

"Okay... then I guess there was no need for me to come?" he started to make his way towards the door when Alice stopped him.

"Wait. What else did Sookie tell you?"

"Like what?" Sam looked suspicious. Alice shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, nothing."

"Right," Sam raised an eyebrow and the two of them stood in an awkward silence, before Alice slowly began to towel dry her hair again. Sam took this as his cue to leave. "I'll see you around, Alice."

Alice sighed in relief as soon as he had shut the front door behind him. Now she could get on with the rest of her day in peace, not that she had particularly much she wanted to do. She then groaned, remembering she needed to fill up her empty fridge and cupboards. It would be a laborious task, and she hoped she wouldn't run into anyone she knew, but it had to be done. Abandoning the towel on the banister, Alice put on her shoes and jacket before grabbing her bag and hurrying out of the house.

The food shopping took a little longer than Alice thought it would, seeing as she didn't know the shop well enough to know where everything was, but she was done by about mid-afternoon and returned home, happy to spend the rest of the day by herself. She even turned off her phone so that people wouldn't call her up and irritate her, because at the current moment, anyone could easily annoy her. She just wanted to be left alone for a bit.

The rest of the day passed by slowly, and Alice just lay on the sofa in front of the TV, watching her _Van Helsing_ DVD, purely for the irony of it. Also, she thought Hugh Jackman was good eye candy, so Alice settled down happily watching it. If only there was a vampire hunter like Helsing that would get rid of Eric for her... Eric.

Nothing could get him out of Alice's head, it seemed, absolutely _nothing_, and that was irritating. She didn't want to think about him again for the second time that day and in such a short space of time from when she first had thoughts about him. Alice couldn't help it, she _knew_ it was to do with the fact she drank his blood, but admittedly... he was quite something. Gorgeous would be a good term to describe him. She had even thought that when she first made eye contact with him, so even without his blood, Alice was attracted to him. Probably like every other man or woman who had set their eyes on the hunk that was Eric Northman.

It was actually impossible _not_ to be attracted to him.

Alice growled in frustration and whacked the sofa cushion, not that that was going to help in any way whatsoever. Even though the film was about half hour from the end, Alice turned it off so as to stop thinking about her little predicament. Maybe reading a book would help.

She jumped off the sofa and went to grab a random book from the shelf in the living room. She didn't care what is was, as long as it had nothing to do with vampires.

* * *

Alice spent the next few days letting time pass by as she read books, ranging from fantasy to non-fiction. It was peaceful, and nobody came knocking on her door and she didn't even give a second thought about her phone, as it was still turned off. Unfortunately for Alice, something unexpected happened and so she ended up turning her phone on again.

She had been sleeping peacefully one night, just dreaming of sitting in her garden, when the next thing she knew, she was sitting there with Eric. Just chatting to him and he wasn't saying anything, just looking at Alice. Then he kissed her. At this point, Alice had been willing herself to stop kissing him, however it got even more intimate until she managed to wake up. It was the middle of the night, and Alice hurried down the stairs and picked up her phone, turning it on.

Sure enough, she had a few missed calls from Sookie and Sam, not to mention a text message only from Eric Northman, which she had received a few minutes beforehand:

_Have a nice dream? Don't deny you enjoyment._

Alice hadn't realised it until now, but she was mildly aroused. That was one thing Sookie failed to mention about the blood – Eric would be able to feel what she felt. Another thing that hadn't been mentioned: the dream. Alice didn't want to have to put up with this sort of thing for a long time, so she was hoping that sooner or later (preferably sooner) Eric wouldn't be able to feel her, and she could get on with life a little more normally without a meddling vampire.

There was one other thing that annoyed her: how did he get her number? Now a little bit angry, Alice called the damn vampire. He picked up almost instantly.

"How the bloody hell did you get my number?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"_Hello to you too, Alice. Tell me, how was I?"_ Alice could practically _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

"Shut up and tell me how you got my number!"

"_Someone's irritable and aroused, aren't they?" _he chuckled and Alice growled. _"Ooh. Animal."_

"Northman..."

"_Miss Stackhouse gave it to me. I needed to contact you and you've been _very _distant the past few days_._"_

"Damn Sookie..." Alice muttered.

"_You're not fond of the telepath, are you?"_

"She's a bit invasive. Anyway, why do you need me?"

"_There's a thief in Fangtasia. Your presence is required tomorrow night, and Miss Stackhouse is coming too."_

"Why do you need me, then?"Alice frowned in confusion.

"_Your little gift is going to come in useful with this."_

"Right. Sure. Of course," she rolled her eyes.

"_I don't like your tone. I'm not asking you, I am telling you,"_ Eric's voice began to get dangerously quiet.

"I'll be there," Alice ran a hand though her hair, not believing she was actually agreeing to this, not that she had a choice anyway.

"_That's what I like to here. Sweet dreams, Miss Carter,"_ Eric hung up before Alice could scream at him for saying that. She closed her own phone and brought it back upstairs with her, wondering what she could have gotten herself into this time.

It would appear the wait until tomorrow night would be a long one, and Alice didn't feel like going back to sleep. It was one in the morning, meaning she had an even longer wait. She didn't want to do this, but she had to, and it was obvious Eric knew something she didn't. Or in the very least, he had a theory about something to do with Alice, and just wanted to test it out. Brilliant.

* * *

**Perhaps a review would be a nice belated Christmas present? ;)**

**Livvy x**


	5. Longshadow

**Wow, thanks to all my lovely reviewers for their comments! Have another chapter just before New Years to read :)**

* * *

Alice eventually fell asleep again, despite not wanting to, however she was thankful that she didn't have another dream about Eric. In fact she didn't even dream about anything at all, which was even better. Unfortunately, she woke up late the next morning with a raging headache. She thought that maybe she could use being ill as an excuse not to go, but no matter what, Eric would be expecting her to be there.

She got showered and dressed before heading downstairs to take a headache tablet. It was one of those horrible ones that dissolved in water, making it taste like you were drinking flavourless sherbet that smelled like a science lab. But they worked the best.

Alice groaned and rubbed her head as she ate her bowl of cereal, wanting the tablet to kick in already. Her head hurt so damn much, and she didn't want to spend the day in pain and lying on the sofa doing nothing, but so far, it seemed like that was the only thing she was going to be doing.

When she went to go brush her teeth, Alice looked in the mirror and did a double take. She was so pale, and her eyelids were droopy. _What the hell?_ She thought to herself. Headaches were rare for Alice, and they never came on this bad. Maybe taking a lie down on the sofa or back in bed for a bit might not be such a bad idea. Then her phone rang. She jumped and then rubbed her temples. The fact she had her ringtone to the most annoying track she could think of, made her the pounding in her head worse.

Sighing, Alice went back into her bedroom and picked up her mobile. It was Sookie. Of _course_ it was Sookie. Alice reluctantly answered the call.

"Hey Sookie."

"_Hey Alice, I got a call in the middle of the night last night from _Eric_ of all people, saying you were coming to Fangtasia tonight?" _the waitress spoke at top speed and was quite loud, causing Alice to wince.

"Yeah, I am. Listen, can you keep it down a bit, I've got a _really_ bad headache..."

"_Oh. Sorry. Anyway, do you want a lift there tonight?"_

"Sounds good. What time?"

"_I think around about eight or something."_

"Okay, I'll see you then. I really need to go lie down..."

"_Get better soon, Alice, I'll see you later!"_

"Bye," Alice then hung up, and allowed the massive wave of fatigue finally hit her. She collapsed onto the bed and then curled up in a ball, clutching the sides of her head. The pounding would _not_ stop. The tablet should have kicked in by now, and it wasn't working. She'd never had a headache this painful before,_ never._

Alice was on the verge of passing out when she got the image of Longshadow attacking the blonde girl in her head again, only this time it was more detailed. He jumped over the bar counter and pulled round the blonde girl, who turned out to be Sookie.

Sookie? Why did that girl have to be involved in _everything_?

Alice managed to not pass out and pulled herself out of the vision. There was no way Sookie could go tonight, unless she wanted to get killed. But if she called Sookie and told her not to go, then Eric would get mad – he obviously needed Sookie tonight for her telepathic abilities, especially if he was going to be trying to find a thief at Fangtasia. However, it now made sense why he needed Alice there.

Fangtasia was going to be closed, so the only people present would be Eric, Pam, the woman that Alice had seen there running around after the two vampires, Longshadow, Sookie, probably Bill and then Alice herself. Maybe someone else, if there was a thief, then obviously they would be stealing money, and Eric was obviously no accountant. So and eighth person would be present, someone who dealt with the money. Eric had probably come to the conclusion from what Alice had told him, that Longshadow was going to attack Sookie for some reason or another. He most likely wanted Alice to stop that. He didn't want a mess to be made of the whole ordeal, and it would prove his idea that Alice could most definitely see the future.

She now really did not want to go. She just wanted to lie here, on her bed for the rest of the day and not leave until her headache was gone. It seemed like it was going to be sticking around for a while yet.

Never in her life had Alice felt so weak, that was the extent of the pain in her head. She felt dizzy and slightly nauseous. There was no way she'd be able to go, she was worried she wouldn't be able to get up with vomiting. Alice looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was almost midday, meaning there was about six hours until sunset. She'd call Eric then.

Alice was drifting off to sleep when the image came to her again, but she pushed it from her mind and was almost sleeping when that bloody phone of hers went off again. She jolted out of her almost-slumber and shakily reached for the irritating piece of technology. Sam was calling her. Really?

"Sam, I'm trying to sleep..."

"_I know, I'm sorry. I got worried. Sookie said you sounded pretty awful."_

"Well you have your answer," Alice chuckled a little. Sam was a sweetie, she couldn't deny that.

"_Look, if you need anything, just let me know, okay?"_

"I'm planning on sleeping all day."

"_...Fair enough."_

"Also, Sam, I'm sorry if I was a bit rude to you the other day. You were just trying to look out for me."

"_It's fine," _Alice could picture Sam shrugging. _"Anyway, I'm gonna let you get some rest now. Get better."_

"Thanks, bye."

Sam hung up and then Alice sighed in relief, putting her phone onto vibrate before leaving on her bedside table again. She could finally get some rest now. Alice slowly fell asleep, eager to finally get away from the agony that her head was causing her. She did not see the image again, but she knew that it wanted to force itself upon her yet she didn't allow it.

* * *

Alice slept peacefully in a dreamless state, and was woken up by a knocking on her door. It was well after sunset and when she looked at the clock, she realised that the person at the door was more than likely going to be Sookie. Alice's headache wasn't gone, but it was better, and she felt that she would be able to get up without the urge to be sick everywhere.

She slipped on her leather jacket and boots before slowly making her way downstairs. She passed the mirror and noted that she was still pale, although not as badly as before, and her eyes looked tired. What a sight she was going to be for the others who were probably going to be present at Fangtasia.

Alice opened the door and spoke before Sookie could even get in there.

"Yes. I know I look like wank. Let's just get this over with," she turned and locked the door and followed a stunned Sookie to her car. Not surprisingly, Bill was in there and Alice greeted him with a warm smile. He moved to sit in the back of the car so Alice could sit in the front with Sookie, despite the former's protests. The drive to Fangtasia was silent, until Bill spoke up.

"I'm curious, Miss Carter – and I don't mean to be rude – but why does Eric want you there?"

Alice shot Sookie a side glance, and the other woman responded by mouthing something to do with the fact she didn't say anything to Bill.

"Umm..." Alice began. "I'm not sure. I only met him a few nights ago."

No more was said on the subject. Alice could already feel herself beginning to like Bill even more. He wasn't as invasive as Sookie.

They arrived at Fangtasia, where the sign said it was _closed_, however Bill knocked on the door and Pam unlocked and opened it, allowing the trio to go inside. Along the way, she eyed up Sookie and Alice. Sookie looked uncomfortable whereas Alice found it amusing.

It was strange to see the club empty, however Alice thought that the quicker they got this done, the quicker it would be able to open. She noticed that a chubby looking man with glasses who was balding was sitting at one of the tables, incredibly nervous. Eric was sitting up on his throne, watching the man, however when he noticed the new arrivals, he ran up to them with his vamp speed.

"Mr Compton, Miss Stackhouse and Miss Carter. Glad to see you all came," he looked at each of them in turn, his eyes lingering on Alice for a little longer. "You don't look quite yourself tonight, Miss Carter."

"I'm fine," she said curtly.

"Hardly."

"Why don't we talk about this after we've dealt with your problem?" Alice offered, and Eric gave a little half smile.

"Alright then."

He then gestured for Sookie to go and sit with the uncomfortable-looking man, whilst Bill and Alice went and rested against the bar, Alice sitting on one of the stools, still feeling a little unsteady on her feet. Bill gave her an odd look and she raised an eyebrow at him, so he focused his attention on Eric, who was now making his way over to the poor man at the table.

"Pam, Longshadow and I are partners in this club," he began. "We recently noticed that sixty thousand dollars has gone missing from our books. Bruce," he stopped at the man and put a hand on his shoulder. "Is our accountant," Eric looked at Sookie briefly, then at Alice, who perked up slightly at the mention of an accountant. "Perhaps you can start by listening to him."

"He's not saying anything," Sookie said.

"Don't be coy. It's humbling enough turning to a human for assistance. We know what you can do."

"And I know what you can do too," Sookie replied, a little bit smug. "Why don't you just glamour him?"

"Now don't you think we would have tried everything before summoning you?" Eric was a little annoyed. Sookie didn't respond. "So, it would be a great favour to me and to Mr Compton if you help us."

Sookie looked over at Bill, who was looking down at his feet. She then turned back towards Eric.

"If I find out who did it, then what?"

"We'll turn that person over to the police and let the authorities handle it from there," Longshadow spoke up. Alice flinched a little when he spoke, causing Bill to turn to her a little confused. Sookie turned towards Longshadow and gave a dry laugh.

"Hundreds of years old and you're still a terrible liar, come on!" Sookie faced Bruce and Eric once more. "I'll make you a deal: if you promise to hand over the person who did this _to the police_, I'll agree to help you any time you want."

Alice watched as Eric gave a little smile.

"Alright. Why not?" he replied. Sookie then turned her attention to Bruce, gently taking his hand.

At this point, Alice began to get nervous too – mainly for Sookie's safety. She finally realised why Longshadow had attacked Sookie: he had been the one to steal the money. Alice knew the vampires could sense how nervous she was, the tension in the room increased a little and Eric stared at her, knowing that she knew something.

"Bruce it's okay, take a deep breath," Sookie said suddenly. "Did you steal their money?"

Eric's attention was now back on Bruce, he was giving the man a look that could kill.

"No," Bruce managed to say. "No, no you gotta believe me, I didn't do it I swear to you!"

"Shh... Do you know who did?"

"No," he said, dejected.

Alice knew. She could end this all right here, right now and Sookie wouldn't be attacked. However she just wanted to see it play out.

"He's telling the truth," Sookie said after a moment.

"You trust a skinny human to clear the _fat _one?" Longshadow called out in disbelief. Alice jumped in her seat this time when that vampire spoke. She had never felt more terrified in her life, knowing what could happen in the next few minutes. She just wanted to get out of there, as every vampire could sense her fear and she was pretty sure Longshadow was slowly edging closer to hers and Bill's end of the bar.

"Bring the next one in," said Eric.

Alice grabbed onto to Bill's arm suddenly and then he turned to her, worried.

"I need to tell you something," she hissed at him.

"Right now?"

"It's really important," Alice gave Bill a pleading look and he nodded.

"Eric, may Miss Carter and I borrow your office for a moment? We have something private to discuss."

Eric cocked his head to side as he looked at Bill and contemplated the vampire's question.

"Hurry up with it though," he replied.

Bill gently took himself out of Alice's grip and walked in the direction of Eric's office with the woman following. Once inside with the door closed, Alice let out a deep breath and fell back onto the sofa, tapping her finger on her knee repetitively, still anxious.

"What is it, Miss Carter?"

Alice threw him a strange look.

"Please, call me Alice. As for what I need to tell you... I know who stole the money."

"How?" Bill looked suspicious, which was fair on his part.

"I... this is going to sound odd, but I can see the future. The other night I was in here and Longshadow was handing me the drink I asked for, when I brushed his hand by accident and I saw him attacking a blonde woman," Alice tried to stop her voice from raising in panic. Bill placed a comforting hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm down. "All day I've had a massive headache, because it keeps coming back to me but in more detail."

Alice paused for a moment to try and quieten down a little.

"It's okay, take your time," Bill said, but Alice shook her head.

"We don't have time. Longshadow is going to attack Sookie when she finds out who did it."

Bill's eyes widened. Alice knew that he believed her. She then grabbed her forehead as the image hit her again, and Alice realised that it was literally seconds away. She took Bill by the hand and then ran out of the office and back into the bar, where Pam, Eric and Sookie had realised it was a vampire who stole the money.

"She's been glamoured," Pam told Eric, matter-of-factly, but still a little shocked.

"It was a vampire," Sookie turned away from the woman she had been thought-reading and screamed as Longshadow jumped over the bar towards her.

Alice ran as fast as she could and got to Sookie the same time as Longshadow, just about managing to grab her and pull her out of the way, causing the vampire to crash into the table. The other woman began screaming her head off and stood up abruptly, making her chair fall over in the process. Pam and Eric watched the scene, totally poker face.

Longshadow then made for Alice and Sookie who were backing away towards the stage, but not before Bill came and stabbed him in the back with one of the wooden leavers for the beer at the bar. Longshadow stopped and blood came spurting out of his mouth, some of which got on Sookie before she and Alice ran in the direction of the bar.

The other woman's screams reached an annoying high-pitched note that was not helping Alice's head.

"Ginger, enough!" Pam told the woman, who then promptly stopped screaming.

"Thank you," said Eric and Alice at the same time.

Longshadow was still spewing up blood and then after a moment or so, he melted to the floor in a horrible, bloody, stringy mess. Ginger started to scream again, and it was at this point Alice noticed Bill had his fangs out.

Everyone was then silent for a moment, and Ginger stopped screaming to bring up the contents of her stomach, then screamed. Again.

"Humans," Eric said with distaste as he watched Ginger. "Honestly, Bill, I don't know what you see in them."

"Even I don't understand what Bill sees in them," Alice remarked, looking at the vomit on the floor with disgust. She then made eye contact with Eric, who at first was smirking but then he frowned.

"Alice..."

"Oh," Alice realised that she had really over done it, in her attempt to make sure Sookie wasn't harmed, and it hadn't helped how she had been feeling all day. Just by looking at her hands, Alice knew she had gone extremely white.

For the first time in her life, Alice fainted.

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**Thoughts? Hurry now, or I'll get Sookie to tell me them ;)**

**Livvy x**


	6. Abilities

**I'd just like to thank all of those who have been favouriting, alerting and reviewing, it means the world!**

**I'm supposed to be studying for an English literature exam tomorrow, but instead I finished off this chapter which I told myself could wait until the weekend... ahh well, enjoy what I brought out for you!**

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"What do you have in mind?" Bill asked Eric as he sat down opposite him. They were in the office, discussing what to do about the fact that Bill had killed a vampire to save a human. Alice had been placed on to the sofa in there, still unconscious.

"I thought that I might take Miss Stackhouse," Eric began, and his eyes flickered briefly over to Alice. "However, my interests lie... elsewhere."

"Why do you want Alice?"

"She has a much more valuable gift. It could aid me well."

"What use does seeing the future have for you?"

"You witnessed it yourself. She prevented Longshadow from attacking your human, something that she has told you and I she saw him do. I'm guessing that no matter what occurred out there earlier, you would have still killed Longshadow?"

Bill hesitated in answering.

"If I hadn't done what I did, would you still have let his disloyalty stand?"

"Whatever I'd have did to Longshadow, I would not have done in front of witnesses. Especially not vampire witnesses," Eric shook his head slightly. "Not smart, Bill, not smart at all."

Bill took a sip of his Tru Blood, just as Alice began to wake up. The two vampires' attention was on her and she looked at them with confusion.

"So Sleeping Beauty wakes up," remarked Eric, giving a cocky half-smile. Alice merely blinked at him.

"Which one of you two brought me in here?"

"Bill."

"Good..."

"You look better, Alice," the other vampire spoke up. "You've regained some colour in your face."

"Good," Alice repeated, slowly sitting up. Strangely enough, she felt absolutely fine now. No headache, no nausea and she wasn't pale. That was odd. "I actually feel better. I feel normal again."

There was a moment of silence before Eric spoke up.

"We'll discuss this another time, Bill. You can go."

"Good night Eric, Alice," Bill replied as he stood up, leaving the Tru Blood on the desk and then exiting the room. When Eric was sure than Bill was gone, he began to speak to Alice.

"So... I take it you figured out why I wanted you here tonight?"

"You wanted to avoid a messy ending, however that didn't turn out so well, did it?"

"No. No it did not," Eric got out of his seat and made his way round the desk, leaning against and folding his arms as he faced Alice. "I have to admit, it was funny watching you try to change the future."

"I did. Longshadow didn't harm your _precious_ telepath," Alice spat out, bitterly. Eric's eyes darkened.

"I wouldn't assume such things, Miss Carter. However you did manage to stop Miss Stackhouse from being harmed, but Bill still disposed of Longshadow. Did you know Bill was going to kill him?"

"No."

"It's not a very good idea to lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you."

Eric was perched on the arm of the sofa by Alice's head within a second. She jumped and then moved to face him a little easier. He then began to bore his gaze into hers and Alice held it, already knowing what he was trying to do. Eric was going to glamour her, but it wasn't working. She didn't feel at his mercy in any way whatsoever, and she didn't feel like she had lost her free will, she didn't feel empty.

"Did you Bill was going to kill Longshadow?"

"It seems as if glamouring will not work on me. And the answer is still _no._"

There was a loud growl coming from Eric and then next thing Alice knew, she was being pinned down on the floor by her throat, and the vampire was baring his fangs at her. He had a firm grip around her throat, that seemed to increase with every passing second.

"Stop lying to me!"

"I'm not lying to you!" Alice gasped, grabbing onto his wrist and trying to pull it away from her. He was holding her down hard, and it was becoming more difficult to breathe, but Alice's attempts to get Eric off of her were only worsening her predicament. He squeezed her throat a little harder.

"Tell me the truth."

"E-Eric. I s-s-swear. I d-didn't k-k-know," Alice choked out, and Eric finally let go of her, standing up and retracting his fangs. She breathed in deeply and then began to cough, rolling onto her side and then curling up slightly, beginning to shake. Alice gently touched the side of her neck where his hand had been and winced. It was probably bruised. Tears began to fall from her eyes, and she hurriedly wiped them away, not wanting to give Eric another excuse to be annoyed with her, because right now, he wasn't in the best of moods.

Truth be told, she was now frightened. She was seriously terrified of Eric right now and she just wanted to get out of there, but she was too afraid to even move.

"Get up," Eric murmured, and somehow Alice managed to stand up. She backed away from him until she could move no further and was standing against the door, not taking her eyes off of the vampire, worried he might pounce on her again.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, then Eric began to approach Alice. She flinched away from him as he stopped next to her, looking down at the floor. Surprisingly, he tucked a lock of her deep ginger hair behind her ear, and grazed the tips of his fingers over her neck, noting the hand-shaped bruise that was forming there. Alice still wasn't looking at him, and so he carefully tipped her chin up so she would face him.

Eric saw in her eyes how afraid she was and realised that perhaps he had made a mistake in hurting her like that. The poor human had been through a rough night, and he wasn't making matters better now, was he? She was also of use to him, and he didn't like damaged goods, so that was going against what he wanted. And the fact she couldn't be glamoured also interested him. Perhaps she wasn't entirely human, and they had yet to finish what they were talking about before he had his hand around her throat. He could find out more about her.

He let go of her chin and then paced the room a few times, before stopping to look at Alice once again. She was eyeing him curiously, wondering what was going through his mind. Well, now that the moment was upon them, she would be able to know.

"Give me your hand."

Alice hesitated.

"I just want to go home," she muttered, looking down at her feet. Alice knew what Eric wanted to try, but she didn't want to do it. She just wanted to go home and climb into bed and fall asleep so that she could forget about today's events. Especially the part where Eric had his hand around her throat and could have killed her.

"Miss Carter, I only ask of you this one thing which you denied me a few days ago," he held his hand out to Alice, who looked at it almost regretfully. Eric knew she was also scared to take it, because of all that had gone on this evening, she was scared that she might overdo herself once more. However it was annoying Eric that she was procrastinating over this menial thing for the second time, because she would have control over this and could let go of him at any point if she so wished, but she seemed to forget that fact.

"I... fine..." Alice tentatively made her way towards Eric and gingerly took his hand, the vision of him, Pam and a third vampire brutally attacking someone who was lying on the very sofa Alice had been on. A little more concentration on Alice's part showed her who was being attacked, and she tore her hand away from Eric, the image clearing from her mind. She looked at him, half disgusted and half tired.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"I wish hadn't seen that again..." Alice sighed. "Please may I leave?"

"I have one more request."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Alice knew she was treading on thin ice by complaining, but she had had enough for one night and did not want to spend any longer in the company of this vampire; this arrogant, dangerous vampire. Sure enough, Eric was mad again. He shoved her roughly against the door and held her there by the shoulders. His face was just centimetres from Alice's and he began to speak in a very quiet voice, one that set off warning bells in Alice's mind.

"I could have easily broken your neck, or ripped out your throat or carried on starving you of the air you need to breath, but I chose not to. You are useful to me, but you are not if you are tampered with or hurt in any way. I gave you the gift of not killing you, Miss Carter, so it would be very wise on your part if you did as I said."

Alice stared into Eric's eyes stunned. She couldn't bring herself to speak, nor could she move. She was frozen to the spot with shock, for she had never received a heavy threat such as this before.

"When I met you, I could have easily killed you then and there for hitting me and disrespecting me, but I did not. You were capable enough of nearly doing it yourself. Now... Miss Carter, I have one final request to make of you tonight."

Alice gulped.

"Okay," she squeaked out, and Eric gave a little smile.

"That's what I like to hear. Now, what I would like you to do is see things without having the need to have contact with someone. It'll be an advantage for you and for me if you were able to this."

"Do you want me to do it right at this moment?" she replied in the same tiny, timid voice. Eric merely chuckled at her response and let go of her, going back over to his desk.

"If you did it right now, I would be delighted. However, we have all the time in the world, so I expect you back here tomorrow."

Alice nodded, and even if that was her cue to go, she was still unable to move. If she were able to move, she would wait for him to say she could go. Eric looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You can go. I'm expecting you here at eight o' clock tomorrow."

"Adios," Alice quickly said and hurriedly opened the door, glad that she found herself moving again. She pretty much ran through the night club to get to the exit, noticing how Ginger was still clearing up Longshadow with an unamused Pam watching her do so.

As soon as Alice was outside of Fangtasia, she ran as fast as she could, wanting to get away from the damn place. She was frightened. She knew that Eric had a bit of a temper and he was like a ticking bomb just waiting to explode, and she had finally seen that temper, and how angry he could get if he didn't like what he was hearing. In all truthfulness, Alice didn't want to return to Fangtasia the following night, but she had to otherwise he would quite possibly kill her if she didn't.

Her neck was still hurting like hell there was a little bit of wooziness there, but that didn't stop Alice from running all the way back home... well, almost all the way back home. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she ran smack into someone. That someone was Sam.

"Jesus Chr- Alice!" Sam rubbed his arm where she had crashed into him and then gave her a concerned look. "What's the matter?"

Alice shot him a weird look.

"Nothing," she said, before power walking away from him. Sam frowned and then hurried to catch up with her.

"No seriously, no-one runs like that at night unless something's not right. Did you have a run in with the killer?" he asked her, now really worried. Alice stopped dead in her tracks and turned on her heel, giving him a very bitter sweet smile.

"There's a _killer_?" she repeated slowly. "Just another thing I need on my plate!" Alice threw her arms up in the air in frustration and then turned left to walk down her street.

"Alice, what the _fuck_ is going on?" Sam followed after her.

"Never you mind, Sam!" Alice shouted at him and went up the steps to her front door. In the brighter light, Sam could see the hand mark on her neck and he grabbed her wrist to get her attention and face him. "Get off me!"

Alice tore her wrist away from him, and he could see that she was on the verge of tears and afraid. She looked at him with watery eyes for a moment before unlocking the door and heading inside.

"You can come in, if you want..." she said, her voice trying not to break.

Sam came inside and shut the door behind him, going into the living room after Alice. She was sitting on her sofa with her head in her hands, and he could see her shoulders shaking, so it was evident she was crying. He sat down next to her and carefully put a hand on her back, beginning to rub it soothingly. Her hands then dropped from her face and she leaned into Sam, resting her head on his shoulder, so he out his other arm around her.

"Hey, come on, tell me what's wrong?" he asked her softly. Alice sniffed before talking.

"It's a long story..." she murmured.

"I've got all night."

Alice told Sam everything that she should have told him when he came to warn her about Eric, which included her bizarre ability, which Sam didn't find bizarre at all – there was a fair amount of supernatural in Bon Temps. He did get very mad about the fact Eric had nearly killed her, however, because that was uncalled for. Even though it was Eric Northman, it was still not necessary, especially if she hadn't been lying. He hadn't known Alice very long, but she was smart enough to know not to withhold information from a vampire as dangerous as Eric could be.

"I don't think you should go back there tomorrow..."

"I have to. I'm scared that he'll kill me if I don't," Alice pulled away from Sam. "He didn't exactly _ask_ me to go there, he told me to. As much as I hate being ordered around, I'll still do things for people if they tell me to. If it's reasonable."

"What if he hurts you again?" Sam lightly touched her neck, and Alice winced. She was silent for a moment, then gave Sam a small smile.

"You see I know this guy – I haven't known him for very long, but he's _ever_ so sweet. He's always looking out for me and it seems he worries for me a lot. I think I'll just send him over to sort out the problem," she went a little pink in the cheeks when saying this, but Sam disregarded this and gave a small chuckle.

"I'm sure this guy would be quite happy to help you out."

"I would be glad to hear it if he did," Alice then looked at her watch and she raised an eyebrow. She didn't realise how late it was. "I should probably get some sleep."

Sam stood up and made his way to the door with Alice in his footsteps. He stepped out onto the porch.

"You need any help, just give me a call, okay? And make sure you neck gets better," Sam told her. Alice nodded and then give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good night, Sam," she said. Alice watched as he left her house, grateful that she had run into him, literally. However she couldn't help but wonder why he was out on his own so late. She then pushed those thoughts from her mind and locked the door, heading up stairs for some much needed sleep. If she was going to be at Fangtasia tomorrow, she'd need to be well rested.

Alice wanted to give Eric a piece of her mind, but there was always the thought of the list of ways he could kill her from her neck. Who knows what other ways he could think of? She didn't want to anger him like that again, even though she had done absolutely nothing wrong. He was a bit of a complex character, and Alice knew it would take a little bit of time in figuring out how he worked. She figured that the faster she could work him out, the better it would be for her in the long run. Perhaps she could try and get to his sensitive side, if he even had one?

Maybe that's what he needed. He had been a vampire for so long he had had time to hide away all his emotions and easily suppress them, apart from rage. He probably only let that one show just to scare people and Alice knew for a fact that worked _very_ well for him indeed. She had realised by now that he could feel every single emotion of hers, because he was able to tell when she was mildly aroused from the dream she had had the other night. That meant he had felt her fear and upset when she ran away from Fangtasia. He probably even knew she was running and revelled in that fact.

One day, in the future, she would really tell him what she felt. For the moment, she hated him with her entire being and it was tiresome. She didn't want to be around a temperamental vampire in the evenings, showing him some strange ability she didn't even know how to wield. Yet Eric was already expecting so much from her, and Alice was unsure she wouldn't be able to live up to that, and that's exactly what she hated the most about him: his assumptions that people would do whatever he wanted them to do.

She would do that for now, just to save her own skin, but he was going to be in for a surprise in the future.

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**So yeah, that escalated quickly... in case you are wondering, there will be a fair amount of Sam in this. Also there will be a lot of Bill, and obviously lots and lots of Eric. It seems strange to have a lot of Bill in a fic that is largely revolved around Eric, but you'll see why in a couple of chapters time.**

**Leave a review!**

**Livvy x**


	7. Practice

**I had exams, so that kind of prevented me from getting this chapter out... however, I only have three exams left so I thought I could roll this one out. It's just over 4000 words long too! I think the next chapter might be a bit longer, I have no idea. Anyways, enjoy!**

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Her neck looked even worse. It was more purple than anything, and hurt a lot more too. Alice decided that if she was going to go out in the day, wearing a scarf would be a good idea. Not a _scarf_ scarf that one would use in the winter, but a fashionable one that could be worn at any time of the year and during the day. Maybe she shouldn't just go out at all. Not until later on, obviously, because she had to.

Alice sighed as she left the bathroom and headed downstairs to have some lunch. She made herself a ham sandwich and sat at the kitchen table, pondering whilst she ate. Alice was thinking of ways she should go about handling Eric. She didn't want him to get angry again like the previous night. Perhaps the best way to do this was to sit down, do as he said, answer any of his questions and to not complain if he was over-working her. Besides, they would probably both find out at the same time if she was being over-worked or not.

She finished her sandwich and slid the plate away from her. Alice then rested her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. She had really gotten herself into quite the predicament by moving here, but she was going to run away from it. Some positive thinking would get her through this, despite how much she just wanted to _not_ go to Fangtasia tonight. Even if she didn't want to go, it might not end badly. Alice thought that maybe Eric might be a little more lenient with her, and she was hoping he would be.

Unless of course, he was stuck in his old ways. Alice wasn't even sure how old he was, but going by the long hair, the ancient-looking Scandinavian chair (or throne)... she would probably say Viking age. That seemed accurate enough. Although Alice had told herself no asking questions, she thought maybe learning a small amount about him wouldn't hurt him. As long as it didn't hurt her either, so to speak...

Alice shuddered and then went and put the plate in the dishwasher before heading into the living room, not entirely sure what to do. She thought that maybe a trip to Merlotte's wouldn't be out of the question, that way she could see Sam again. Plus, she hadn't had any calls from Sookie so he obviously hadn't told her about last night, something that Alice was grateful for. However, if she went out, it would require hunting for a small neck scarf, something that she couldn't be bothered to do. She went out into the hallway and looked in the mirror that was hanging on the wall there. The hand prints were quite low down on her neck, so maybe if she changed her shirt to one with a high collar, it would be covered.

So she went and did just that, before taking the half hour walk to Merlotte's in the blistering heat. At the moment, Alice didn't mind it was pretty damn hot. She hadn't been here for that long and it was a nice change from the dull British weather, so she was going to enjoy it incase it annoyed her, eventually.

What really cheered up Alice, was when she entered Merlotte's and when Sam caught her eye, his entire face just lit up and he beckoned her over to the bar. Alice smiled as she sat down on one of the stools and Sam slid a beer in front of her.

"On the house," he said, returning her smile. Alice raised the bottle to him before taking a sip from it.

"I generally don't drink beer... I've never cared for it."

"Well I think you need it."

"I think you're right," Alice rolled her eyes. "I am _dreading_ tonight."

"I imagine you would be. How's your neck?" Sam lowered his voice.

"It's more purple than last night. If I wasn't so damn afraid of Northman, I would kick him."

"You mean kick his ass?" Sam chuckled.

"Yes. Essentially. I just don't like saying that. It's not lady like."

"Coming from the woman who said it herself she looked like 'wank?'" Sookie had come over and heard the last part of the conversation. "You look _so_ much better after last night. I really owe you one for saving my life, thanks."

"You're welcome," Alice smiled at Sookie.

"So um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did you and Eric talk about after?"

"Sookie, maybe this can be saved for later..." Sam started, but then Alice shot him a look.

"Just a few minutes?" she asked him.

"Alright, alright..." he went further up the bar to leave the two women alone. Sookie slid onto a stool next to Alice.

"I have to go back there tonight," Alice told her. "I don't particularly want to either."

"I can see why you don't want to go back there. Eric's awful, isn't he?"

"You can say that again," Alice took another sip of her beer. "Listen, I didn't want to tell you this because you'd make a fuss, but um..." she undid the collar on her shirt and showed Sookie the bruises. The waitress' eyes widened.

"Oh my-" Sookie began to say loudly, but Alice shoved her hand over her mouth, making her go quiet. She gave Sookie a stern look.

"If you tell _anyone_ about this, I will be so mad, okay? You can't even tell Bill. I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth now..."

Sookie nodded and Alice removed her hand, doing her collar back up again.

"Why did he do that though?" Sookie whispered.

"He thought I was lying to him. He thought that I had withheld information about what I saw, and it took him a while to get that I wasn't lying."

"He has issues about not getting the answer he wants," Sookie cocked her head to the side thoughtfully.

"Very serious issues. You don't know what to get from him, he's so _dangerously_ relaxed all the time... also, Sookie, I can't be glamoured."

"You too?!" she raised her eyebrows, shocked.

"You can't be glamoured either? Well, that makes sense, I guess... if you're a telepath then... yeah, you see what I mean."

At this moment Sam came back over to tell Sookie she needed to get back to work and that the two women could talk later on when Sookie's shift was over. He wasn't being mean, it was just that the place was starting to fill up a bit, however Alice looked at him apologetically, but he just waved it off.

"Do you want me to take you there this evening?"

"No, I think I'll be okay," Alice replied.

"You sure?"

"Yes... I have a plan. A plan which involves sitting quietly and not questioning Northman." she sighed. "It's all I've got, to be honest."

"So you're going to do whatever he asks you?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Don't judge me, I don't want to get killed," Alice gave him a stern look, and Sam thought for a moment.

"Alright, fair enough... I still want to give you a ride there."

"Sam, I'll be fine. I'll call you if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded in agreement with Alice, who then smiled at him.

Alice spent the rest of the afternoon there, just idly chatting away with Sam about absolutely nothing, talking about why she moved to Shreveport. The people Alice had become getting acquainted with had been wondering why she had moved to Shreveport of all places, but it was something Alice was finding hard to explain, so Sam left it. They started talking about what she used to do, which was work in an art gallery, because she enjoyed telling people about her favourite masterpieces by the best artists over the centuries. She didn't understand why Sam found her life so fascinating, because it wasn't _that_ interesting, in her eyes anyway.

However the time seemed to pass too quickly, and it was just after sunset. It was six o' clock and there was a massive surge of customers arriving for dinner. Alice knew she better get back home and mentally prepare herself for later on, and so Sam drove her back home, despite her protests.

"You sure you don't want me to take you there?" Sam asked for about the eighth time as they stood on the porch.

"For the last time Sam, I will be fine going there by myself and I told you earlier I would call you if anything went wrong," Alice replied, exasperated but still grateful at the same time. "I promise, okay?"

"Okay, okay..." Sam smiled at her before getting serious again. "You be careful, alright?"

"Of course I'll be careful. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," Sam then kissed Alice on the cheek, causing her to blush a bit. He then went back to his RV and drove off with a quick wave.

Alice hurried inside and then began to pace in her living room. She could face Eric again, couldn't she? It wouldn't be that hard, he would probably start out like he normally does, with his cocky attitude and if she did what he said then his mood could either significantly improve or stay the same. He was difficult to work out. Eric was like a lion, he would be so relaxed and then you wouldn't know if he was going to pounce on you and rip your throat out.

She pushed those thoughts from her mind and decided that a change of clothes might be order. She was going to Fangtasia after all, and she needed to fit in a small amount. Last time she just looked too bright to even be in a such a place.

Alice headed up to her bedroom and opened her wardrobe to be faced with a ridiculous amount of sun dresses, shirts and shorts. She found the darkest dress she owned (which had a blue and white floral print on it) and replaced the clothes she had been wearing with that. Alice then remembered she had a leather jacket and dug that out of the back of the wardrobe, along with a pair of boots. She put them on and looked in the mirror. It was the strangest combination of clothing Alice had worn, but somehow it worked.

She still had about an hour and a half before she actually needed to be at Fangtasia, but Alice still left for the night club anyway. The place would be closed, but Eric and Pam more than likely got in a few hours before opening to set up and sort various things out. She got there at about five to seven, and folded her arms, leaning against the wall by the door until a few minutes later Eric showed up. Seven o' clock on the dot.

"You're early," he commented, as he stood five feet away from her. Then his gaze roamed up and down her body. A hint of a smirk appeared on his face. "You look rather... different. I could get used to this."

"I'm early because I wanted to make a good impression. I wore this so I didn't look so obvious when walking back out of here."

Eric came and unlocked the door to the nightclub, allowing Alice to go inside first before following her. She started to go in the direction towards his office, but with his vampire speed, he was right in front of her.

"We have three hours until we officially open. We can move to my office then. Unless of course you'd like to go there now and I can keep you occupied..."

Alice stared at him in shock for a few moments.

"No thank you, Mr Northman." she replied as politely as she could. Eric then rolled his eyes and folded his arms, his own leather jacket becoming tight on them, meaning Alice could see the outline of his muscles. She tried not to make it so obvious her attention was on them.

"Skip past the formalities, _Alice,_" he told her, slightly bored. He then noticed where she was looking. "See something you like?"

Alice's gaze snapped up to Eric's. His was looking at her so smugly, she just wanted to slap him again. She gritted her teeth and refused to say anything.

"Cat got your tongue, or is it something else?"

This was absolute torture for Alice. By now she would have bitten his head off with a witty comeback, but she had planned on not offending him in any way whatsoever. Eric could sense her growing annoyance and sauntered on up to the stage and sat on his throne. Alice stood in the same spot, just watching Eric's every move, as he was watching her.

"Are you going to just _stand_ there or come and join me?" Eric gestured at the seat next to him. She blinked a few times before briskly walking up onto the stage and sitting in the seat to his right. "You're oddly quiet tonight, Alice."

"I decided it was better if I just did what you asked," she responded truthfully.

"You learn very quickly."

"I also thought that being quiet would turn out better for me on my part. Just so I don't say the wrong thing."

"My, you really do strike an impression, don't you?" Eric cocked his head to the side as he looked her, wonder filling his eyes. Alice shifted uncomfortably, her cheeks going a delicate shade of pink as he stared her down. "Now, you're here for a reason," he snapped back to his more normal behaviour.

"Yes, I am."

"I want you to be able to see whatever it was when you touched my hand. Just without the touching part."

"Right... Um, I'm not entirely sure how to go about this..."

"Maybe close your eyes for a start and concentrate?"

Alice resisted the urge to roll her eyes but did what he said. She sat there with her eyes shut, well aware that Eric was watching her, and she thought about him. She concentrated every single one of her thoughts on Eric to see what might happen. She pictured his face clearly in her mind and her past two meetings with him, but nothing was happening. Alice didn't know how long she had been still for, but Eric was getting impatient.

"Have you seen anything yet?"

"No, I haven't."

He sighed and Alice opened her eyes.

"I am trying-"

"Evidently not hard enough."

"You said it yourself yesterday that we have all the time in the world, and this is something completely new to me. Not to mention I still have your hand print on me!" Alice unzipped her jacket and exposed her neck to Eric, the purple bruise left behind by his hand was still her. "You know I _ran_ from here last night? And I crashed into Sam Merlotte on my way home and I had to explain to him who did this and why."

"I know. It was obvious that you ran home, I can feel everything you do," Eric rolled his eyes again. Humans. They could be so forgetful and stupid at times. He had felt her increase in fear as she left the bar the previous night. "As for your neck, I believe that can easily be solved."

His fangs clicked down and he rolled up his jacket sleeve a little, biting into his wrist, waiting for Alice to come closer to him. She didn't want to, because she knew she'd enjoy drinking from him as soon as his blood touched the tip of her tongue. It was one of those annoying things about vampires – you could hate one, but once you had tasted their blood, everything was forgotten and there was nothing left but pure lust for their blood and them. She reluctantly brought herself towards his bleeding wrist and began to lap up the blood. The effect hit her instantly, and Alice really latched onto Eric, all of her hatred for him gone. She needed his blood, she didn't want to stop-

Eric pushed her away a little roughly when he saw the bruise on her neck her gone. Alice pulled a tissue from her bag and wiped her mouth and chin, straightening herself. Eric was highly amused by her actions. She was... uptight about some things, certainly. She held herself in a way that showed she was proud of who she was without being a snob, which was something he didn't expect to see in a person.

"You're very peculiar," he told her.

"In what way?" Alice replied, a little confused.

"Just..." Eric inhaled an unneeded breath. "You're quite the innocent little human, I might find."

"I'm not little," Alice frowned at him and he chuckled.

"Yes, you are. You're almost like a teacup. A tiny little teacup," Eric was enjoying teasing the human about her height. She was getting defensive. And angry. It was funny.

"Don't call me a teacup," Alice groaned. "Anything but teacup..."

"Alright then, min kärlek," he replied. Alice raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't know Swedish. Interesting."

"I only do Spanish."

"Min tekopp, you amuse me so."

"I don't need to know Swedish to know what you just said to me... Please don't."

"I can say whatever I want to you."

Alice bit back her answer to that. Somehow, she was doing quite well with not irritating him, but he was basically laughing at her, and she was getting mildly pissed off with it. He even knew how angry she was getting, but on the outside, Alice remained perfectly calm. She would not have a repeat of the previous night. It appeared as if Eric did not want to either.

"Look at you, you're no fun tonight," he mocked pouted at her.

"I don't want to die," she told him simply.

"Who says I'm going to kill you, liten kvinna?"

"Last night says that."

"You're scared."

"I have every right to be, don't I?"

"That's wise. However I'm not planning on killing you, not yet. You're too valuable. Your gift is too rare to go to waste."

"So I'm not even a person to you, am I?" Alice raised her voice. She had had enough. She came here to try and work out her odd little trait and she hadn't done much except for sit there listen to Eric tease her. "I'm just some tiny little _thing_ with an ability I don't even understand and you would have killed me even last night or last week if it wasn't so valuable to you. You just want to use me to your own advantage and that's not exactly fair on my part if _I don't want to be used!_"

As her anger reached its peak, something happened that Alice hadn't expected. The vision of Eric, Pam and the other unknown vampire attacking someone. She shut her eyes and held the image there for a few seconds, wondering if she might be able to look around the office, however it was gone. She opened her eyes to find Eric standing above her, glaring at her with his fangs down.

"Don't get mad at what I just said..." Alice spoke quietly now. "I just saw what you wanted me to see."

"Did you now?" he didn't quite believe her, however he retracted his fangs.

"Yes. I did."

Eric began to pace up and down on the stage, trying to work out why Alice could suddenly do this without the need of touching his hand. He then realised that it was because she was angry with him. If she was still angry with him, then she might be able to see it again, but with more detail. He stopped in front of her.

"Are you still angry?"

"What do you-" Alice cut off mid-sentence and squeezed her eyes shut tight. Eric knew why she had done this, and took that as an answer of yes, she was still angry.

"So we've found a way in which you can have your visions."

"You're telling me," Alice rubbed her forehead. There was a moment of silence.

"You can go. We'll carry on with this tomorrow," Eric told her. She needed to calm down a bit, seeing as all her anger was directed at him. He couldn't have her angry _at_ him, but he just needed her in an irate mood, or just to try and get angry. Tonight was not a good time to try this. He couldn't overdo her. The little human looked at him, stunned, before getting up and muttering a goodbye before leaving the night club.

Eric sat down on his throne as he watched Alice leave. It was interesting to see how angry she had gotten with him, but that was because she didn't like him, that much was obvious. He felt her anger gradually dissipate, only to be replaced by a small amount of panic, then relief a minute or so later. This sparked something in Eric. _Why was she so panicked? Why relieved?_ He would have to ask her tomorrow night. He wasn't that particularly bothered by it enough to go after her, but it bothered him enough to want to know what was going through that woman's mind.

He looked at his watch to find it was only eight. Pam entered the bar and so Eric then slunk away to his office.

* * *

Once outside of Fangtasia, Alice started to feel better. The images were only occasionally flashing through her head, but as she began to become less angry, they started to fade away. As she walked back to her home, she realised she needed help. Help that Eric could not possibly give her.

She got her phone out of her bag and called Sookie, who picked up almost instantly.

"Sookie, I know I've only known you a few weeks, but I need to ask you a favour."

"_Sure, what is it?"_ she replied perkily.

"Um, you're not planning on spending the next few nights with Bill, are you?"

"_We did have something planned for tonight... why?"_

Alice felt herself getting worked up. She thought that maybe Bill might be able to help her out, she needed to be able to control her anger, and even though she had met Bill twice, she felt that she could trust him a small amount.

"It's um- jeez, Sookie, it's a bit hard to explain- I- I really need his help," she stammered through her sentence, her chest tightening.

"_Alice, what's wrong?"_ the waitress was getting worried. _"What did Eric do?"_

"Nothing! He didn't do anything... I..." Alice struggled to think of a way to explain this without too many details. She would tell Sookie everything eventually, she just had to figure things out first. "I need to talk to him... regarding... self control..." that was a good enough way to explain it.

"_What did you do with Eric?!" _Sookie practically screamed at Alice.

"I didn't anything! God! I told you, it's hard to explain right now, which is why I need to talk to Bill. It's urgent, I swear. I don't want to disrupt your night but this has to happen as soon as possible."

Sookie didn't speak for a moment.

"_I can always spend tomorrow night with him..." _it sounded as if Sookie didn't want to wait another whole day before seeing Bill again.

"I'm sorry..." Alice muttered. She didn't want to take Sookie and Bill's night away from them, but to be fair, Sookie did owe her. She decided to mention this. "I did save you from Longshadow... please?"

"_Oh god, you did! I do owe you for that one. I can wait a day. Listen, Bill lives in a huge house near the cemetery, across from mine."_

"I'll get a cab."

"_I'll just call Bill right away,"_ Alice could hear the smile in Sookie's voice when she said 'Bill.' It was cute, but a little sickening.

"Thanks Sookie."

"_It's fine – bye!"_

Alice hung up and called for a cab.

* * *

**Yep, this means a lot of Bill next chapter. I love Bill. Although I've finally started watching season 3 and in episode 2 you find out about why he got with Sookie... I was so annoyed, but I still love him. He can be such a gentleman, don't you think?**

**Leave a comment?**

**Livvy x**


	8. Help

**It seems as if I'll be updating weekly, if I can, haha! My exams are over now, so I should be able to. I want to update weekly as well, because there are a few chapters I have written in advance and I'm excited for you guys to read them. Anyway, here is chapter 8!**

* * *

The old Compton house still had a charm about it, despite being somewhat derelict and a little bit dilapidated. It had been around for over a hundred years, so that was to be expected and Bill probably wasn't planning on mass redecorating for a while yet, however it had a sense of cleanliness on the outside. Alice just hoped it had that same feeling once she was inside, because she needed something comfortable right now.

The cab journey had admittedly been quite stressful, seeing as she hadn't been entirely sure what to say to the driver as to where she was going, causing her to get worked up and then angry at herself, which meant visions of Eric again. The reason for not being sure on what to say to the driver about her destination, was because she didn't know whether to be dropped off at the Bon Temps cemetery, or directly outside Bill's house, or somewhere nearby. An internal battle within Alice had ensued and she had made the cab driver a little more than concerned when she was sitting in the back, occasionally rubbing the sides of her head and shutting her eyes, sometimes even hissing as if in pain.

She hesitated before knocking, calming herself. She didn't want to end up saying something she would regret to Bill. He had proven to be a good person so far, at least. When Alice felt calm enough and the visions had stopped, she knocked on the door. A few moments later, Bill answered, giving her a small smile. She looked at him apologetically.

"I'm so sorry for stealing your night with Sookie," she told him.

"It's fine, Alice, you did save her life," he opened the door a little more and stepped aside. "Please, come in."

Alice smiled at him before stepping into his home. It was like the outside. Old, dilapidated, but had a sense of cleanliness. She followed Bill into the living room, where he gestured for her to sit on one of the sofas, and he sat on the one opposite her. They were both silent for a moment before Bill spoke up.

"Sookie said you needed to speak to me about... self control?" he seemed a little confused and suspicious. "What did you do?" he frowned slightly, and Alice placed her head in her hands due to embarrassment.

"I should have explained it in a better way..." came her muffled voice.

"I am not judging you," Bill reassured her. "But I do advise not to start-"

"No!" Alice removed her hands from her face and looked directly at Bill. "God _no!_ Okay, when I was talking about self control, I was referring to _emotions._"

Bill nodded slowly.

"That makes much more sense... tell me what you wish to talk about."

"Well- I- I... ummm," Alice let out a long breath. "Tonight, Northman was trying to get me to... _see_ without the need of touching someone's hand. It didn't really work, just simply _thinking_ about the person. Things escalated a bit, I became irate and then... I had a vision. Of Northman. Just like he wanted me to. However because I was still angry, I kept on seeing flashes of it, and it's getting painful, to say the least. So now, I'm worried that if I ever get angry in within the next few days, I might just see _that._"

"You think that you may have linked anger to Eric within that short amount of time?"

"Yes."

"You don't want that?"

"Good god, no."

"And you just want to control your anger so that you don't constantly keep seeing visions of Eric?"

"That would be nice."

Bill was silent for a moment, twiddling his thumbs, evidently thinking all of this over.

"What other feelings do you get when around Eric?" he asked her quietly, trying to be careful with what he said. Alice was a little fazed by the question, but answered it all the same.

"Umm... hatred... fear... and lust..." Alice could feel her face burning when she answered with that. Bill merely gave her an understanding look.

"Have you had his blood? If so, then lust is a perfectly natural feeling."

"Yeah, I may have had a bit of his blood. It's a long story," she muttered.

"That's fine – just one more question: if you were to get angry, would it lead to the vision of Eric, or if you were thinking of Eric, would it make you angry and _then_ lead to the vision of him?"

"Oh wow, that's a bit of a brain teaser... really, I have no idea. In Fangtasia, I closed my eyes and then tried picturing him, but that didn't work. Like I said before, he made me highly irritated and then I got the vision. On the way here, I was kind of angry at myself and I still kept seeing it."

"Alright then. Alice, close your eyes and think of Eric."

Alice did as Bill said. She did exactly what she had done about two hours previously, picturing Eric in her head, down to the finest details of the way his hair was parted and his stupid, cocky smile. Somehow, it didn't make her annoyed in any way, however she could feel her cheeks going pink, but at least they weren't bright red like before. Now _that_ made her annoyed, and she began to get bits and pieces of the vision again, causing a small stabbing pain in her head. She opened her eyes after a few seconds to see Bill looking at her oddly.

"Lust that lead to anger," he quirked an eyebrow, his expression becoming more amused by the second. "That's interesting."

"Stop looking at me like that!" Alice couldn't help but laugh at him. Bill was obviously looking at her like that on purpose, possibly to cheer her up a bit, and it was working. Even he cracked a smile.

"Listen, maybe we can get you to clear out any emotion when you actually have the vision?" he suggested.

"That sounds like an idea."

"So do what you did before, and when you can feel the vision coming, just try to unlink any emotion from it."

"Slight problem there... it all comes on very suddenly," Alice admitted. Bill's eyes narrowed a little as he sat in thought.

"This is a lot harder than I originally thought it might be, but didn't you say it was getting painful, having just the flashes? That might be a sign if you were to have a vision?"

"What you're saying is, is if I start to feel any pain, to remove any emotions I might be having?"

"Yes."

"Oh what the hell, you're my only hope on this one..."

Alice closed her eyes once more and thought of Eric, lust filling her entirely. Why, _why_ did she have to feel that way about him? She had no intentions of doing anything of that sort of nature with him, and she blamed his blood for making her feel the way she was. Now she was beginning to get mad again, and the sharp stabs of pain began to make themselves present in her head. Alice turned her attention away from her emotions to the pain, and allowed herself to be completely enthralled by the vision. It was hard, but she managed it.

She really took in the surroundings of the office this time. It was brighter than when she had been in it, and all the vampire occupants were furiously attacking someone on the sofa. Alice instantly recognised Pam, Eric took a little longer because his hair looked different and she didn't know who the third vampire actually was. From a previous time she'd had this vision, Alice knew who the victim was.

A cold sensation on her forehead and hands brought Alice back to reality. The vision faded as she slowly opened her eyes, to meet Bill's concerned face. His head was tilted to the side so that he could look at her properly as he crouched next to her. Alice realised then that she was now lying on the sofa, and Bill had one hand on her forehead and the other one holding onto both of her hands. She frowned, completely befuddled by what was going on, however she generally felt really, really warm.

"Are you feeling okay?" Bill asked her, genuinely concerned, taking away his hands from Alice so that she could sit up.

"It's warm," she replied, then realised something. _That's why your hand was on my forehead._

"You've been lying there for thirty minutes."

"Oh," she didn't really know what else to say. "Well... it worked. I stopped focusing on the emotions, instead of just removing them entirely. I think that was why I only got pieces of it earlier on."

"I suggest you go home and get some rest," he said politely. "You shouldn't be doing too much of this all at once."

"At least you helped me figure some stuff out Bill, thank you," Alice smiled at him and they both got up, going to the front door. She looked at her watch. "I'm sure Sookie wouldn't mind getting a call from you. There's a while yet to go until dawn. Goodbye, Bill. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"Thank you. Good night, Alice," he graciously held the door open for Alice and she stepped out into the night air, which wasn't as cool as she would have liked it to be. It was strange how she managed to become so drained after just simply trying to have a vision. She should really inform Eric of this as soon as possible, but she didn't exactly feel like talking to him right now. She would tell him tomorrow night. Now, she just wanted to go home and sleep.

* * *

"So... Alice..." began Sam. Like every other day, she was sitting up at the bar in the grill, chatting to Sam as per usual while he worked. He had been relieved to hear that Eric hadn't hurt her, and was actually somewhat glad she went to Bill for help afterwards. He didn't like Alice being around Eric, because he was just so damn dangerous. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

"Are you asking me out?" she smirked.

"Maybe..." Sam grinned at her.

"Well, I should technically be at Fangtasia tomorrow night, but I'm not Northman's personal bitch so I am going to say yes, I am free tomorrow night."

"Good. What time should I pick you up?"

"Oh, you're going to pick me up? Hmm, let's say seven," she smiled at him.

"Sounds good to me."

"Just one thing."

"Yes?"

"Take me out somewhere nice."

"I wouldn't take you out anywhere _less_ than nice."

* * *

They were in Eric's office this time around, because Pam was in early, and Eric wanted his meetings with Alice to be a little more private. Pam still didn't quite know of Alice's little gift, as he liked to call it. A little gift within a little woman, and that was his little secret. It was almost perfection. Almost, because Bill, Sookie and the shifter probably knew of her gift. But _he_ had been the one to find out about it first.

But now, there was a problem. She could only work a certain amount before she began to become weak. Humans. Even if they did have something good about them, they would somehow account to absolutely useless. When she was telling him of this, Eric rolled his eyes. _Pathetic. _What was even worse, she had gone running to Compton about her anger, but judging by what she had said, that was going to work out better for the both of them. Controlling her gift was currently the main issue here, but she had been able to do it for Bill. Let's hope she could do it now.

Eric gazed intensely at Alice she closed her eyes, concentrating on having a vision. Unfortunately, after a few seconds, she opened her eyes again, shaking her head.

"It'll take a few tries before I get it right," she told him.

"However long it takes, you will do it," Eric replied, bored, as he sat across from her. He almost smirked at how she gritted her teeth together when he said that to her. Her human reactions provided endless entertainment for Eric, although she didn't quite know it. _Liten kvinna, how you make me want to laugh,_ he thought.

Alice complied to him, and it took about an hour, maybe two, he didn't know, until Eric had the result he wanted. Yet it proved she really did become weak after doing too much. He could feel the heat emitting from her, and she looked sick. Eric reckoned that she kept this up over time, she wouldn't end up in such a state. However it pleased it him to no end that she was able to 'look around' (as she put it) in the visions, meaning that she would be able to give it to him in more detail. That was also important. If he was to use this, then he would need as much detail as possible.

Eric came round and stood in front of Alice. She looked up at him tiredly.

"Give me your hands," he said to her. Alice shook her head, curling her hands into fists. Eric knew why she did this, but he still took them. They were so tiny compared to his, and he was able to enclose them easily. Judging by the look on her face, she was surprised about not having a vision as soon as their hands touched. She then relaxed. "Is that better?" he asked her, referring to the fact that he, being so cold, was able to cool her down. Alice nodded, now looking at her encased hands, a tiny smile appearing on her face. Eric had not been expecting that.

"You're oddly quiet tonight," he remarked. The smile was gone from her face and her eyes snapped up to meet his. She was like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Oddly enough, I'm not doing it just to please you," judging by her tone, there was something she needed to tell him, or ask him.

"Then why so quiet?"

"I'm trying to think of the best way to ask you something," so he was right about that.

"Then ask me," Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I was wondering... do you mind if I don't show up here tomorrow night?"

It wasn't for a night off, Eric knew that for sure. However it was highly convenient she didn't want to come tomorrow, for he had other things to attend to. He had to go with Pam, Longshadow's replacement and Bill to go and see the Magister, regarding the latter's punishment. He would be gone for a few days at the most.

"That's fine," he told her. More surprise crossed Alice's face, and he smirked. "I'm not here for the next three days at the most, so consider yourself lucky. Why?" Eric had to admit he was curious as to what Alice had planned for tomorrow night. She made to move her hands out of his, and so he let go of her.

"I have a date," she murmured. "It's been a while since I've had one, actually."

"How long?" Eric did not care about Alice's personal life, but now they were on the topic, he felt inclined to ask.

"About ten months..."

"You do realise that if I wasn't going for three days, I wouldn't have let you go anyway?"

"Yeah, I know..."

"That's only if the time you haven't been in bed with someone was considerably shorter. Ten months is a long time. If I was here tomorrow anyway, I would let you."

"How... kind of you," Alice said sarcastically. "Also who says I'll be getting into bed with them?"

"Evidently the man would be a fool not to get into bed with you," Eric leaned back against his desk, arms folded, his eyes roaming up Alice's body, momentarily stopping at her breasts before continuing on up to her face. She scowled at him and zipped up her jacket.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"And there we have the Alice I know. I suppose it was a compliment of sorts."

"Pervert."

Eric merely chuckled.

"You may leave. We're done for tonight."

Alice didn't hurry to leave his office, but she didn't take her time either. Eric tried not to make it obvious that he was watching her leave. It was weird to think that this human fascinated him so much. Perhaps instead of just using her for her power, they could... well, be friends. No, they couldn't, Eric couldn't be friends with a human. However he did want to know more about her. If they kept having conversations like the one they had just had, would that constitute them as friends? He certainly hoped not. Work acquaintances seemed like a better term for them, no matter what. Maybe he should pay Alice for her time. That seemed fair.

Work acquaintances it was.

* * *

**What did you think of that? Your comments are greatly appreciated! (I didn't get many on the last chapter *sigh*)**

**Livvy x**


	9. Date

**I did say I would update within a week, didn't I? Anyway, this has a bit of Sam/Alice in it, but um... well, just read on and you'll find out.**

* * *

To be going out on a date with someone almost seemed like a strange concept for Alice, as she had not been on a date for a very long time. She was nervous and thrilled at the same time, and glad that it was Sam who had been the one to ask her out. He was such a sweetie, and made it so blatantly obvious if he actually liked someone, as Sookie had told Alice earlier that day. It turned out that Sam had been quite infatuated with Sookie, and didn't exactly move on when she started a relationship with Bill, until he then met Alice. It was odd how things like that worked.

Currently, Alice was pacing her living room, feeling jittery, waiting for Sam to arrive and pick her up. She hadn't been quite sure what to wear, so just ended up wearing the similar sort of outfit that she had been wearing to the Fangtasia the past couple of nights, as it was fairly normal enough. She had even found a pair of fingerless gloves, just in case Sam ever took hold of her hand in that romantic gesture sort of way. She didn't want to have any visions tonight.

Sam arrived at seven on the dot, and he knocked on the door three times. Alice almost jumped, but then managed to calm herself as she went to answer the door, opening it with a huge smile on her face, which was returned. Sam looked up and down her body.

"You look great," he commented, as Alice stepped out and locked the door.

"Thanks. You look pretty good too," she replied, following Sam down to his RV. He may have still been in the clothes he would normally wear, but they looked smarter than usual, probably his better items of clothing. He opened the door for her and helped her up into the vehicle, before going round to get in himself.

"Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?" Sam asked as he began driving.

"I don't really know this place too well to decide... however... you wouldn't mind taking me to a café, would you? I'm not particularly hungry tonight and just to have something small with a cup of tea would be nice."

"Sure, if you'd like. There's a place I know of just outside of Shreveport that you might like."

"Let's go there then," Alice said quite perkily, and they drove on in silence, thinking over what they could talk about when they got their destination. She couldn't stop looking at her gloved hands, and thought maybe she shouldn't have worn them, because if Sam asked why she was wearing them... it would lead to a topic she didn't want to talk about.

They soon arrived at the café, which was quite empty, and sat down at a table by the window. It was quite a cosy little place, and Alice felt at home in there. Sam got Alice some tea and a rather huge slice of chocolate cake, and then they began to chat quite happily, mainly Sam asking Alice about what life was like back in England, and he listened intently to what she had to say, and then they somehow got onto the topic of the _lovely_ Bon Temps and Shreveport.

"So I moved to a place where there's a killer on the loose?"

"You sure did," Sam chuckled. "He kinda goes after those who have been with vampires."

"Fun," she replied sarcastically.

"Only if it's obvious, like if the person was a fangbanger – they'd have the bite marks," he indicated towards his neck, and Alice nodded.

"Lucky for me I haven't been bitten yet... I've just had a substantial amount of vampire blood, however..."

"Wait what?!"

"Oh... I should have mentioned the other day..." Alice shifted uneasily in her chair. "When I first met Eric, I kind of fell back off my chair and hit my head hard enough for it to bleed. Not to mention the other night he gave me blood to heal my neck."

"I see," Sam frowned slightly, and Alice leaned a bit closer to him.

"Do you know what's really horrible about this? You have... dreams," she whispered.

"Dreams?" Sam repeated, looking confused and Alice nodded, but then gestured to show as if they were _more_ than just _dreams._ He still didn't quite get it.

"I've only had one, I'll admit that and it was quite... well... sexual."

"So you had sexual dreams about Eric?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It was horrible."

"That's all I needed to hear," Sam then cracked a smile and laughed a little bit.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a fan of Northman, so..." Alice gave a little shrug and ate some of her cake.

"I never asked you, but what's your family like?" Sam said after a moment of silence.

"Quite big. I had two older sisters, a younger brother and of course my parents. Each of my siblings have a partner, and my second oldest sister has four-year-old twins. I'm their favourite auntie," Alice chuckled.

"That's sweet... so, you're twenty-four, yeah? How old are your siblings?"

"My brother is twenty-two, the sister with the twins is twenty-nine and my oldest sister is... I think she would be thirty-three this month, actually."

"So quite a few age gaps there."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. It's not the most fun thing in the world being the second youngest, but... my sister with the twins – Daisy – we're pretty close. After I-" she stopped for a moment. "Actually, I won't bore you with that story."

"What?" Sam frowned slightly. "Say what you have to say, I don't mind."

"Well, I went to go live with Daisy after I broke up with my boyfriend... it was about ten months ago or so. I lived with her up until I moved here," Alice shrugged, and then took a sip of her tea.

"Have you not been out on a date since then?"

"No... this is my first date in almost a year."

"Why did you break up with him?"

"Doesn't matter," Alice said after some hesitation. "Can we not talk about this?"

"Sorry... and I'm curious, but why are you wearing gloves?"

Alice then sighed and face palmed. She definitely should not have worn the gloves tonight. Sam was only asking innocent questions about her, but those were questions she didn't want to answer. The evening had started out nice, and she didn't want to ruin it, because Sam was a good man, pleasant to be around. She didn't want to load her personal issues to do with her ex-boyfriend and Eric upon him so soon, especially when she didn't like talking about them anyway. At least Sam knew about the visions, and was surprised that he hadn't figured out why she had worn the gloves in the first place.

"Sam..." Alice looked at him. "There are some things that aren't appropriate to talk about in a place like this. I don't particularly want to talk about them either," she also found it quite strange how Sam had been able to dodge questions she had about him. "Kind of like how you don't want to tell me anything about you."

Sam was silent, he couldn't get out of that one. Alice drained the last of her tea and had the small bit of cake that was left and stood up.

"This evening was actually quite nice while it lasted," with that, Alice left the café and began to make her way home.

She supposed it wasn't fair to leave Sam like that, but he hadn't been all too fair on her, avoiding her questions and just constantly asking her things. She had wanted to get to know Sam a little more, as he had obviously wanted to know her more, but there were some boundaries. She couldn't just tell him personal things if she didn't know him all too well herself. Perhaps she could try going on another date with him, but wasn't sure about that fact.

Alice's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her phone going off. She pulled it out of her little bag to find it was Eric. Surprisingly, she was quite glad he had called and answered quite relieved.

"Evening Northman," she frowned, and thought that she needed to get out of the habit of calling him by his last name. "I mean Eric," she added on hastily.

"_Calling me Eric now, are you?"_ he replied smoothly.

"It's better if I do, isn't it?"

"_What changed your tune?"_

"My evening hasn't gone quite to plan."

"_I thought the man you would be with would end up playing the fool,"_ Eric commented. _"What did he do?"_

"Prying. Also not telling me anything about him."

"_I was wondering why you were annoyed."_

"Hmm... you know, this is the most civil conversation we've had."

"_You're right. It is. I could get used to this,"_ Alice could tell he was smirking and rolled her eyes, before smiling a little.

"I wouldn't bet on that... Eric when are you going to be back?" the words had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I mean- I would have rather spent my evening at Fangtasia, wearing my mind out, than have someone pry a bit too much into my life."

There was a moment of silence.

"_Of course. As for when I'll be back, it will either be tomorrow or the day after. Keep practising, or go have some girl time with Sookie and eat ice cream, or whatever it is girls do when they've had a bad date."_

"Um... that's break ups."

"_Like I care which one it is? Go and find Sookie."_

"You're obsessed with her."

"_She has a useful power, much like you."_

"If you had to rate me out of ten, and then Sookie out of ten, what would you give us? Regarding our powers of course?" Alice was almost back at her house.

"_You would get a nine. Sookie would get an eight and a half."_

"I take back what I said about Sookie. You're _clearly_ obsessed with me," she said sarcastically, and Eric chuckled deeply.

"_Well have fun eating ice cream. I'll see you soon Alice,"_ Eric hung up after that, and Alice seemed to be in better spirits afterwards.

Eric could be a nasty piece of work at times, and he was when she first met him, but they were gradually becoming more civil with each other, as the phone call had just proved to Alice. He was still pretty arrogant, but it was getting easier to talk to him. Even if he just wanted Alice for her gift, she couldn't care less at the current moment, because she was actually able to _talk_ to him properly, without any threats.

When Alice reached home, she couldn't be bothered to call Sookie and invite her over. In fact, she was quite tired, having stayed out quite late for the past few nights, and she hadn't realised how tired she was until now. She needed to catch up on her sleep and she didn't give a damn that it was still quite early.

Alice hurried up to her bedroom and got changed into a nightie before climbing into bed and drifting off to sleep a few minutes after her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"_You're afraid, aren't you liten kvinna?"_

"_Afraid of what?" Alice replied, staring into Eric's deep blue eyes._

"_Having a relationship. That's the real reason you left tonight, isn't it?" Eric moved a lock of hair out of Alice's face, tucking it behind her ear. He combed his fingers down to the ends of her hair, where they brushed lightly over her bare shoulders._

"_Maybe. I'm not sure."_

"_Hmmm..." Eric brought his hand to gently stroke Alice's jaw. "Ten months... that's a very long time..." he then leaned in closer to Alice, their faces now only centimetres from each others. Alice knew that Eric was attractive, but never had she thought how much he was until now. Even though his long hair was a little odd, it somehow worked, and his eyes were just the most beautiful things ever. She couldn't stop looking into them. And his lips... well, she would have liked nothing more than to kiss them, and feel them all over her. She pressed her body totally flush against his, and Eric rolled so that she was underneath him. Alice wrapped her arms around his neck, and enjoyed the feeling of his body against hers, as she could feel practically every muscle of Eric's body and nothing was left to the imagination._

_Eric captured her lips with his, cupping the nape of her neck. Alice responded eagerly, enjoying the feeling of his cold lips on her warm ones, and how surprisingly gentle he was being. Eric was hardly a tender person, and here he was, now placing a trail of kisses along her jawline and down her neck. His hands roamed down to Alice's waist and she heard the click of his fangs as they came down and-_

Alice jumped a little when she opened her eyes. That was the second time she had dreamed about Eric, and she had... _enjoyed_ it this time. Enjoyed it a lot. She was now wishing she hadn't woken up when he was about to bite her.

Wait.

What was she thinking? Sure, she and Eric were becoming more civil with each other, but the fact she had _wanted_ him to bite her in that dream made Alice feel a little more than unnerved. She knew it was just the blood. _Just the blood. _Nothing more, nothing less. It was the reason why she was having the dreams in the first place.

Alice looked over at the digital clock. It was two in the morning, and she was a little bit confused with how she had felt about Eric in her dream, and what to do about Sam. Well, maybe the Sam thing would be easier to solve, she could just stay away from him for a little while. As for Eric, well...

She knew that when he got back from whatever he was doing, that whenever she went near him, she would just end up thinking of the dream she'd had. She wouldn't know how to act in front of him after that, it was much more personal than the first dream she'd had about Eric, because they spoke about _her. _Even though it was all in Alice's head, it was still like Eric knew a secret of hers. She didn't have any secrets, but that's what it felt like to her, because she had never revealed much information about herself to Eric.

However that would probably change soon, she assumed, especially if she was going to basically be working for him, with the whole 'seeing the future' thing she had going on. Any personal information she gave to Eric would probably help him in trying to find out if there was anyone else in her family that had the same gift as she did. Alice made a mental note about that, she needed to find out about that too, and did not want Eric beating her to it.

Alice sighed, realising how much she just wanted a nice night of sleep, and she started to become heavily frustrated, which was when she received a text. She turned on the lamp on her bedside table and got out of bed, stumbling towards her bag on the floor. She took her mobile from it and returned to the comfort of her bed, checking her messages. Eric. Of course it would be Eric.

_Your frustration is distracting me. -EN_

Alice rolled her eyes, and wondered what on earth he was being distracted _from_ exactly. Besides, he didn't even need to comment on it.

_What are you doing then? -AC_

_I'm at Compton's trial. -EN_

_And my frustration is distracting you? -AC_

_Extremely. It's all quite sexual, isn't it? -EN_

_...I'll am never going to be able to look you in the face again... -AC_

_Oh you will. You'll be screaming my name when you do so, I can assure you of that. -EN_

_I hate you. -AC_

_How badly did you want me in your dream tonight? -EN_

_...Badly... I might as well admit it. If you dare hold this over me... -AC_

_I'll be holding other things over you, liten kvinna. -EN_

_Fuck you oxoxox -AC_

_Sweet dreams oxoxox -EN_

Alice put her phone on her bedside table, chuckling to herself. At least he had understood the sarcasm with the kisses and the hugs. However there was no way she could look him in the eye now. It would be simply too awkward to do so, and she had to spend her evenings at Fangtasia with Eric. Alice found it odd that she hated the thought of having to spend time with Eric at Fangtasia, but now she didn't entirely mind the prospect of it.

She also did not mind the fact that she was starting to enjoy the dreams, even if she didn't want to, which was quite confusing for Alice. She was also beginning not to mind Eric as a person, despite his arrogance and his constant need to make it obvious he was the boss and he could flirt with anyone he wanted, or try and get with anyone he wanted. If anything his bad traits outweighed his good ones, as Alice had hardly seen his good side.

She turned off the lamp, rolled over and snuggled down into her bed, shutting her eyes in hopes of actually getting some more sleep, when her phone buzzed once more. Grumbling, she reached over to grab it, interested in what Eric had to say. It was quite obvious it was going to be Eric.

_Meet me outside Fangtasia at 9pm tomorrow. -EN_

_Why, what are you planning? -AC_

_Is that any of your business? -EN_

_Hate you oxox -AC_

_I don't think you do oxox -EN_

Alice slept surprisingly well the rest of the night.

* * *

**I tried to do Sam/Alice I tried! But then Eric/Alice got in the way, and so I had to, I apologise... so um, yeah, you learn a little bit more about Alice here, which is always a good thing, and you will enjoy the next chapter, I can assure you. 'Cause Alice has a run in with the killer... plus Eric is going to continue being civil. And flirtatious.**

**Review, my lovelies?**

**Livvy x**


	10. Killer

**You get this chapter a day early, lucky you. It's cos I finished it quickly... anyway, I said at the end of the last chapter that Alice would have a run in with the killer, so... read on.**

* * *

Eric was starting to seethe. It was coming up to half past nine and Alice still had not arrived. Humans. They couldn't do anything right at all. Not to mention the fact that cars were now pulling into the Fangtasia car park. She had better hurry up or he would stuck here for the night with Pam, and he didn't feel like watching over the pathetic clients that came into his bar. Eric was contemplating going back inside to screw one of the dancers when he heard the click of the small heels on Alice's shoes. He looked up from the ground and stared at her as she approached. She had been trying to mask her emotion all the way here, but now that mask was coming off and Eric could tell how shaken she was about something. She didn't look all to happy either, not that he cared at this moment.

"I told you nine," he growled. Alice jumped at the tone of his voice and stopped a good ten metres from him. Eric used his vampire speed to get to her and she gasped as he appeared behind her. She turned to face him.

"I- I know," she said quietly, feeling a little uncomfortable at how intensely he was staring at her. "I had a vision about Sookie, seeing as I was thinking about how I should have invited her round last night. The vision involved the killer who's been murdering fangbangers, or those who associate with vampires."

"Yes, I know the one you speak of, but that still doesn't tell me why you're late," he folded his arms smugly.

"I tried to keep hold of it, like how Bill helped me and I woke up on the floor at nine. I must have been out for about half an hour or so."

"That's a fair enough reason as to why you were late," Eric shrugged and turned away from her, beginning to walk. "Come on."

"We're not going inside?" Alice raised an eyebrow as she began to follow him, feeling more at ease again, and little less shaken. He seemed to have that effect on her.

"We need to have a chat."

"About…?"

"About our arrangement and how we can both benefit from it."

"I'm not going to have sex with you."

Eric down at the woman now walking next to him, and smirked.

"Who said anything about sex? As much fun as it would be…"

"I was thinking of what we spoke about last night."

"I wasn't. Let's get down to it. You do what I ask you to, regarding your… gift… and in return, I shall pay you."

"That sounds fair… how much were you thinking?"

"How much do you want?"

"Three hundred."

"Three hundred thousand a year it is."

Alice stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed Eric's arm, making him stop too. She looked up at him, stunned.

"I just meant three hundred dollars a week, but-"

"Do you want the money or not?"

"Will you pay for insurance?" Alice let go of Eric as they started walking again.

"You want me to pay for insurance?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Life insurance. I am working for a vampire."

"We'll see."

"You're going to be held responsible if I die doing something for you."

"It would be funny if you died doing me," Eric teased Alice, and she scowled at him, folding her arms in a huff as she continued walking with him. He merely chuckled at her response and quickened his pace. As his legs were so long, Alice had to jog slightly to keep up with him. After a few minutes, they reached a set of woods.

Alice looked at Eric quizzically and unfolded her arms, stopping whilst he went on. She wasn't afraid to follow him, she was just confused as to why they were here. Eric had noticed she stopped and turned to face her.

"I thought you liked the woods?"

"Someone's done their research," Alice raised a brow at him.

"Your facebook was easy to hack into. _A walk in the woods always clears my head," _he mimicked.

"You _hacked_ my facebook?!"

"Well, I had someone do it for me, but I needed to learn more about you."

"You could have asked like a normal person you know..."

"I'm not exactly normal, am I?" he muttered quietly. "And neither are you."

Alice's gaze dropped down to her feet and she clasped her hands behind her back, suddenly feeling shy and like a teenage girl being scolded for something she did wrong. Tears brimmed in her eyes. No, Alice wasn't normal, she wanted to know why she wasn't normal and wished to be an ordinary human being. No visions whatsoever.

"Are you coming? Or are you going to make me feel disturbingly human?" Eric said to her, bored but gentle all the same. Alice looked back up at Eric and saw that he had his huge hand held out to her. She glanced back from his face to his hand a few times, before taking it with her tiny one. Eric led her into the woods.

At first they were silent as they trekked through the woods, Eric occasionally helping Alice over large logs and over ditches that stood in their path, until at one point he spoke up.

"So you enjoy doing this then?"

"Yes. However I would usually be by myself, and therefore had no-one to help me over any obstacles. It was safe to say I fell a lot."

"I would imagine," Eric jumped down from a rather big log with ease just as Alice climbed on top of it. She then sat down, facing Eric.

"I'm done with walking for now. Come on, you didn't bring me all the way out here to talk about money. You want to know more about the visions, don't you?"

Eric went and leaned back against a tree near to her right and folded his arms.

"I suppose I do."

"You want to know if I've had any before."

"Have you?"

"No, I haven't, actually. They're a new thing that started up when I first met you."

"Hmmm... interesting."

"You're telling me," Alice absent-mindedly fiddled with the hem of her dress. "Although... when I was little, I would sometimes get a really strong sense of deja vu. Really vividly. For instance, I may have played a silly board game with my sister and then thought I had done so before. Obviously I hadn't."

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"No, I didn't. I was too scared to tell anyone."

"It appears you are afraid of a lot of things."

"Rightly so at that."

"Because you've just realised that the supernatural has been around you your whole life and you didn't even know it? That you're supernatural in some way? I should amend my last statement, you're not scared of many things, you're only scared of yourself. Of whatever you might be, and what that entails," Eric pointed out. Alice frowned down at her hem and mulled over his words.

"You've forgotten that I'm scared of you," she whispered. Eric was in front of her in an instant, smirking.

"If you were scared of me, you wouldn't be acting this calm now, would you?" he moved so that he was between Alice's legs, his hands resting either side of her on the log. Their faces were only centimetres from each others, and Alice couldn't help but think of the dream she had had the previous night. "And you can't hide anything from me. There _is_ no hiding anything from me."

"This is why I'm not going to _try_ and hide anything from you," Alice leaned back away from him a little bit.

"You've hidden your body from me _very_ well. Up until now of course," he replied smugly, and Alice rolled her eyes.

"Everything turns into a sexual innuendo with you, doesn't it? What are you – a mean, bad, Captain Jack Harkness of the vampire world?"

"Who's Captain Jack Harkness?" Eric had a mix of confusion and distaste crossing his face. Alice gaped at him.

"You uncultured _swine_," she mockingly scolded him. Eric raised an eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm kidding."

"I wasn't when I asked you who that Captain Jack Harkness person is."

"You heard of _Doctor Who_?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Yes."

"You've been around for over a thousand years, meaning you have _lived_ through the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties, and you mean to tell me that you've not even heard of _Doctor Who_?"

"Yes."

"It's good."

"What is it?"

"Humanoid alien who travels through time and space in a blue box, picking up hot companions."

"I think I might have heard of that. Aren't the companions mainly female?" Amusement crossed Eric's face.

"Yes."

"Are you bisexual?"

"Surprisingly I'm not."

"Shame. A threesome would have been fun."

"When did this become more like a social thing between us? You're actually incredibly close to me right now too, and my legs are beginning to feel a bit... uncomfortable..."

Eric was about to say something in response to that, however his head snapped to the right, as he heard something, or more accurately – someone. Alice was about to ask what was wrong, but he clamped a hand over her mouth, and his eyes scanned the area in front of him. He glanced at Alice and saw that she was staring at him with eyes that were questioning what should she do. Eric removed his hand from her mouth.

"Hide," he hissed, before giving her a hand to help her off of the log, and she crept away from him. Eric nodded in the direction to the bottom of the log, where there was a gap big enough for her to lie in. "I'll be right back."

Eric zipped off as Alice got under the log, the woods absolutely silent and still. She found it odd that Eric hadn't realised they may have been followed, and it certainly came as a shock to her. She was worried about her own safety without Eric around, but knew he was probably just searching for whoever it was that had followed them. Alice began to assume it wasn't just _anyone,_ as Eric had told her to hide.

What if...

Alice shut her eyes tight and hoped that Eric would be back from searching soon, and that he had got rid of whoever it was. She was beginning to get really, really frightened, and the running footsteps that there were coming closer were not helping. It wasn't Eric, that was for sure. The person was also panting. They must have spotted Eric.

Alice held her breath, not making a single sound, and she knew that the person would not be able to see her, unless of course they look close enough. Eric better hurry up and get rid of this guy. A feeling of dread settled in her gut as she realised the footsteps were getting closer towards her, but they weren't running any more. She opened her eyes and saw that they were directly in front of her, and from that she knew the person was facing the log.

She had been in this hole for quite some time now, laying on her front totally unmoving, and her muscles were beginning to get cramped from the position she was in. Alice knew that if she moved, she would alert the person that she was there, and couldn't risk it. The person then let out a cry of frustration, causing her to jump and then knock her head loudly on the log.

Silence.

Alice was biting down on her lip so she didn't shout out in pain. Then the next thing she knew, a hand had grabbed her and pulled her out of the hole. Alice struggled against him, but since it was now so dark, she could hardly make out his face, although she knew exactly who it was, and was surprised she hadn't suspected it before.

She tried to break out of his hold, but then he wrapped something around her neck and pulled. Hard. Alice slowly began to choke, and she tried to pulled whatever it was away from her throat, so that she could breathe. When that was seemingly starting to fail, she kicked him in the shins, and his grip slackened, giving Alice enough time to free her neck, and begin to run. As she ran, she called out for Eric, as there was no way she could run fast enough to get away in time.

She didn't get very far when Eric rushed past her and with a very loud _thwack_ sent the killer flying. Eric then picked up Alice and within five minutes they were out of the forest and back outside of Fangtasia. He put Alice down and she gently touched her neck. It didn't hurt too much, and she wondered if there would be a mark.

"People seem to like going for my neck at the moment," her voice was a little hoarse, but she cleared her throat before continuing to speak. "Thank you, though. Even though you left me for quite some time."

"I was trying to lure him away. He had already seen the pair of us."

"I would imagine so... we go out in the dark, we'd alert everyone, considering we're essentially Weasley and Goldilocks," Alice made a jab at the fact Eric had shoulder length blonde hair that looked nice enough to run her fingers through...

"Goldilocks? Really?" Eric raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Of all the analogies, you picked _Goldilocks?_"

"If you really hate it that much, then get a haircut. I'm serious. I don't know what you'd look like with shorter hair, but it would be an improvement. Not that you're unattractive – or anything of the sort – you're really quite gorgeous, but the hair just doesn't really suit you. I mean- sure. It would be fun to run my hands through it, but-"

"Normally I would get annoyed with your rambling, but I'm enjoying this," Eric smirked and folded his arms. Alice's face turned a deep shade of red as she realised what she had been saying, and promptly changed the topic.

"So..." she coughed a little awkward, her face still beet red. "I think that after tonight, you should really pay for some life insurance for me."

"That would be appropriate," he was still smirking. "More appropriate than you, at least."

"Stop it! Stop looking at me like that!" she told him in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh, liten kvinna..." Eric chuckled.

"I looked that up on google the other night," she scowled at him. "Get some new Swedish term to call me, other than 'little woman,' you _enorme polla._"

"They say you are what you have," Eric replied, quite wittily. Alice was silent for a moment.

"Fuck."

"Would you like to?"

"No."

"Not even after they way you _just_ described me? And dreamed about me?"

"No."

"Not even after the fact I was in between your legs earlier?"

"No."

"Well that's a shame," Eric was about to walk back into Fangtasia, when Alice stopped him.

"Take me home?"

"Why?"

"You know why," her face was no longer red and she looked up at Eric, her eyes round and innocent. He sighed, knowing that she was still feeling fearful of what had happened in the woods. Obviously, he hadn't known that was going to happen. He just thought that perhaps she might appreciate talking somewhere that she liked, instead of being holed up in Fangtasia all evening. It was obvious Alice didn't like that, and if she was kept happy and wasn't irritated, Eric wouldn't be irritated. It was a win-win situation. Now she wanted him to get her home safely. Fine. He nodded.

"Thank you," Alice said to him. Eric gave another cut nod, before sweeping Alice up again and speeding to her house. It was quicker than going in the car, and he had found out her address by getting his computer genius human to look her up. He set her down next to the porch. She didn't question how he knew where she lived. "After tonight, no more picking me up and then whizzing off sort of thing. It's weird."

"We could have taken the car."

"That would have been nicer."

"However it's slower... and you may have rambled about something other than me on the journey back."

"You do a lot of stuff for your own benefit, you know?" Alice went up the steps and unlocked the front door, going inside. Eric followed, and then waited. She watched him, trying not to laugh.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked, trying to be polite.

"I could invite you in."

Eric made a gesture with his hand as if to get Alice to continue talking.

"But I'm not going to," she then said, now looking as smug as ever. Eric glared at her. "It's brilliant because you can't even pin me down and threaten me."

"What makes you think I would do that after all the compliments you gave me earlier?"

"You're _highly_ unpredictable."

"And you don't like that?" Eric winked at her. Alice thought for a moment.

"No... not really," she said quietly. "It's not something to be proud of."

"Who said I was proud?"

"The fact that you winked at me when you said it," she pointed out. "Anyway, I should get some sleep. Good night, Eric."

"I'll be expecting you at Fangtasia at nine tomorrow."

After those words, Eric was gone, and Alice shut the door. She rested back against it for a moment, thinking how strangely that night had gone. There had been yet more flirting, danger and 'business' talk. Not a typical way to spend an evening, but it somehow worked. Now there was just the fact of Alice needing to learn more about her power. A call to her mother might just do the trick, however she would have to wait until day time. It would probably be about five in the morning in England, so she couldn't call now.

At least she'd have an answer by the time it got around to going back to Fangtasia.

* * *

**Yeah... I didn't think it would get that flirty and I made a Doctor Who reference, a Harry Potter reference... it was fun. Review please?**

**Livvy x**


	11. Records

**Hello all! You'll like this chapter, well, at least I hope you do. It is the start of a plot twist. You'll see what I mean when you read it. :)**

* * *

"Hey mum," Alice smiled into the web cam in her laptop. It was nine in the morning and she had literally just gotten up, and whilst waiting for her laptop to turn on, she made herself a cup of coffee. Now she was on Skype with her mother, who was still residing in England and currently it was two in the afternoon there.

"Alice! I was wondering when you would call," her mother beamed at her. Emma Carter had the same flaming hair that Alice did, and she was a thin woman with a kind face upon which a pair of spectacles sat. However that flaming hair was beginning to fade as she got older. "How are you? How's life in the States?"

"Yeah, it's good," despite everything, that was the absolute truth. Alice took a sip of her coffee and yawned slightly. "I've met some lovely people, and I have a job. Sort of."

"Sort of?" Emma frowned a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, it's a bit complicated. Well, not complicated, but you may not like it.," she took a sip from her mug.

"Is that tea or coffee? You never usually drink it!" another reason why Alice hadn't called too quickly – her mother was very over-bearing and asked a lot of questions if she felt Alice was dodging around something.

"I've been having late nights- no, not in that way!" Alice sighed. "My job requires me to work at night, since I work for a vampire. Don't worry, he makes sure I'm totally safe. Even if I'm not working, he checks in with me. Kind of over-protective, but the gesture is nice..." she shrugged and watched her mother closely. She was evidently digesting this piece of information thoroughly and choosing her words carefully.

"What's his name?"

"Eric Northman."

"How old?"

"I think he was made in the Viking era, I'm not sure, but his hair and Scandinavian-like chair tell me that."

Emma chuckled and Alice was relieved. She knew her mother had nothing against vampires, however she that knew that Emma would worry a little if she was working for one. Yet because Alice had assured her she would be safe, there was little to no worry. It was better if she didn't mention the fact he had strangled her...

"Blonde hair a blue eyes, then."

"Yep. He's Swedish too. He likes to call me 'little woman' in Swedish."

"Well you are quite short, you obviously got that gene from your father. Even then, you're still the shortest person in our family."

"Mum..." Alice groaned. "Let's not go there. Anyway, speaking of family..." now came the difficult part. "Has there been any history of... ahh, seeing the future?"

Emma was silent for a moment.

"Yes, there has been. Your grandmother was able to see the future if she touched someone's hand or if she had certain emotions about a particular person."

"Was she involved with the supernatural?"

"That's actually what triggered it. When vampires still kept their existence a secret, there was one that she met and they told her what they really were. For the life of me I cannot remember their name, but I met them once when I was quite young..."

To Alice, that would explain why her mother wasn't so averse to the supernatural kind. It was a comforting thought.

"Alice... have you been...?" Emma didn't need to finish the question for Alice to know what she was trying to ask.

"Yeah... that's why I work for Eric."

"Hmm..." she frowned. "I take it he's interested in your newly-found ability?"

"Yes."

"Don't let him use it to his own advantage."

"Mum, I work for him. He doesn't use it for his own personal gain," well that was a lie, considering what Eric had said to her before. "He just wants to make sure that the people he knows are safe, and that if there ever is a _bad_ situation that it doesn't end messily for anyone," _which failed_, Alice added on in her head, thinking back to Longshadow a couple of weeks ago.

"Messily?"

"You don't want to know what I've seen..." Alice thought back to her mother's previous point. "Hang on, did you _know_ this might happen to me?"

Emma was silent for a moment.

"Your grandmother told me it would. She said it always skips a generation."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Alice looked at her mother through the web cam with huge, sad eyes.

"Look, sweetie, I didn't want to worry you. You were only seven when I was told, and I considered telling you when you were a teenager-"

"But..."

"Well, you had that panic attack when-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." Alice sighed. "Okay, maybe that's fair enough, you didn't want to drop a bomb on me, but still... it would have been nice to know."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Emma gave a small smile.

"It's fine – it was just a bit scary finding out about it suddenly a few weeks ago, that's all. Anyway, did nan keep any family trees? I just want to trace it back to where it started."

"I'm guessing this is why you called?" Emma didn't sound annoyed, just curious.

"Yeah... sorry. I was supposed to make a social call last week, but I was a bit busy."

"Fair enough. When your grandmother passed away, we took her things and stored them in the attic," she thought for a moment. "Yes... there was a box with old family trees in them. I'll get those, scan them in, and you should have them by early evening. Well, early evening in English timing."

"Thanks mum! I should get going now... can you tell dad and the siblings that I send my love and I'll talk to them soon?"

"Of course. Bye now, sweetie."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Alice ended the skype call and finished off her coffee, then went and grabbed a couple of bananas to eat. She decided that she should go talk to Sam later on, as they needed to talk about the other night. She showered and dressed, then sat around watching rubbish morning TV. There was some thing on the news which had this vampire called Nan Flanagan, a spokesperson for the American Vampire League, and there seemed to be an ensuing argument between her and a religious man named Steve Newlin.

It seemed as if Steve Newlin was against equal rights for vampires, and he was in charge of something called the Fellowship of the Sun. After a while, Alice turned off the TV, not liking the fact he was using his religion as an excuse to not like vampires. She wasn't a religious person herself, but there were a fair amount of Christians in Bon Temps and Shreveport that accepted vampires quite happily, like Sookie for instance. Evidently there were some more tolerant people in the world than others.

It wasn't like the humans needed to be friends with the vampires, as Alice knew that Eric definitely did not want to befriend humans, but he was civil towards them, and wouldn't intentionally harm them out of his (possible) disgust for them. Actually, he was quite disgusted by most humans... not that Alice could blame him. Some people in the human race just wanted to watch the world burn and they wouldn't give a damn.

People didn't realise there were so many similarities between humans and vampires, and neither was superior to the other. Humans killed, so did vampires. Humans wanted power, so did vampires. There were more similarities than Alice had thought of, and the only differences were vampires could not come out in the day, and they had to drink blood as their food source.

After reading a book for a little while, Alice called a cab and made her way to Merlotte's just after one in the afternoon. When she arrived, Sam looked at her quite unhappily. She sighed and made her way up to the bar, and sat down on one of the stools. She removed the fingerless gloves she had put on before leaving her home. Sam glanced at them before speaking.

"I think I figured out why you wear those. To with the whole seeing the future thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Alice said stiffly.

"You left me in the café."

"I did."

"Why?"

"You were prying, and you dodged my questions all evening."

"I'm sorry for that, I'm just not entirely comfortable talking about myself," Sam looked a little uneasy.

"I don't think anyone is. Anyway you could have at least granted me the courtesy of telling me a little bit about yourself. Also, I think I'd prefer it if we stay friends."

"Right..." Sam muttered. "Any particular reason why? I really like you, Alice."

"That's sweet, Sam," Alice gave a tiny smile. "But I'm not sure if I can like you the same way you like me. Besides, there have been... ahh, other developments up in Shreveport."

"With Northman? Like what? You haven't-"

"No, I have not done anything of the sort with him," Alice then thought to herself, _as much as I'd like to._ "He's now paying me. You could say I officially work for him."

"How much is he paying you?"

"Three hundred thousand a year."

Sam was silent for a moment.

"That's a lot of money."

"I know. It's worth it though. I work for a temperamental vampire, and anything I see, I have to help him sort it out, essentially."

"Okay then," Sam nodded. An awkward silence hung in the air between them.

"I'm gonna go now, I'm waiting for something to be sent through to me and I want to get it in good time before I head out this evening. I'll see you later, Sam."

Alice got up and left Merlotte's, and when she returned home, shut the door with a sigh of relief. So they had cleared the air a little bit, which was good.

Now all she had to do was wait for a few hours until her mother sent her the family tree. She wondered how much of it her nan would have had. Alice knew that having to wait would be boring, so she went and lost herself in a book for a while.

She checked her emails at about four, and to her delight, she had what she wanted. Alice printed them off and had a look through the family tree and found that it dated back to the fourteen hundreds. She paper-clipped them together so that when one looked through it, it would be going back through time.

She then had a quick dinner of pasta and then at half past eight made her way towards the nightclub that Eric owned, feeling a little wary because of what had happened the previous night.

Alice noticed how Pam seemed to perk up as soon as she was by the doors of Fangtasia.

"Well, hello Alice," Pam smiled quite saucily. "You're looking rather pretty tonight."

"Evening, Pam," Alice replied, resisting the urge to chuckle at the vampire's tendency to hit on her. She was about to walk into the nightclub when Pam spoke again.

"By the way, you may have to wait a bit for Eric."

"Why?"

"Bill's here."

"Yeah well, this," Alice held up the file she had put everything her mother had sent to her into. "Can't wait."

Pam merely shrugged and waved her off.

"Have fun."

"Sure..." Alice muttered in response.

Fangtasia was heavily packed tonight, and she had to carefully manoeuvre her way through the sea of people in order to reach the hallway where she could get to Eric's office. Alice could have sworn a few drunk men had tried to grope her as she battled her way through, but then she was safe in the empty hallway.

As she was about to enter Eric's office, the door was almost slammed shut on her face.

"Fuck!" Alice said as the door hit her nose. She made her way into the office and then closed the door properly behind her. Eric and Bill were sitting in the chairs by the desk, but there was a third occupant in the room. She looked young, had ginger hair that was quite tangled and messy, blue eyes and was wearing a cotton floral dress.

"You smell good," the girl started to make her way towards Alice who backed away to Eric.

"I said _sit down and shut up!_" Eric forcefully told the girl, who leaned on against the shelf and folded her arms, looking quite miserable. Alice gave him a sideways glance.

"New vampire?"

"Yes."

"I had to turn her," Bill said, a little disgruntled.

"That was your punishment?" Alice asked him in disbelief.

"Her name's Jessica," Bill nodded. Alice was silent for a moment.

"Hi Jessica... I'm Alice..."

Jessica merely flickered her gaze to Alice for a moment before looking down at the floor once more.

"You just have to be tough with them, or they'll walk all over you," Eric told Bill, referring to Jessica.

"I am well aware of that, but you can see how she is!" Bill replied. "And there are urgent matters to which I must attend.

"You mean Sookie?" Alice raised an eyebrow at Bill. "Seriously?"

"If any harm were to come to her because of my absence, Eric would be without her skills," he snapped back at her. "Besides, what if Eric was absent and harm came to you? He'd be-"

Bill stopped short as Eric leaned threateningly closer to him.

"What?" Eric said quietly, giving Bill a menacing look. Clearly Bill had struck a nerve somewhere regarding Alice, but she couldn't quite place what it was.

"Nothing," Bill said hastily. "I'd... I'd be in your debt. I'd return the favour."

"Oh yes you will," Eric replied, now looking at Jessica who was banging on the door, getting angry that she couldn't go off and do what she wanted. "You most definitely will."

"Two things: one, can we shut her up?" Alice asked, pointing at Jessica. "Two, is Bill making you look after her?"

"How about _you_ shut up," Jessica turned and faced Alice, but was quiet after that, as Eric glared at her.

"And yes, dear Billy here can't even handle one little girl," Eric smirked."Now Jessica... how would you like to learn how a real vampire feeds?"

Jessica's face lit up.

"Oh yes, sir," she replied, smiling at Eric. "Please, sir."

"See?" Eric looked at Bill. "It's really quite easy."

They both watched Jessica for a moment, then Alice tapped Eric's shoulder. He turned to face her and she held up the file.

"Bill, you need to leave," Eric said, and the other vampire got up and waved at Alice before heading out. "Jessica, you're going to sit on the couch and be quiet. You're not to say a word."

"I thought you were gonna teach me how to feed," she complained.

"When Alice has gone, Pam and I will teach you."

"How long will she be? She smells nice and I'm _hungry_."

"Couch. Shut up," Eric said fiercely. Jessica obeyed him and went and sat on the couch, but grumbled as she did so. He moved to sit round the other side of the desk, and Alice sat where he had been sitting. She handed him the file and started to flip through it.

"Why have you given me your family tree?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It dates back to the fourteen hundreds, around the time when Henry the Seventh reigned. I- I thought it might be useful in helping us figure out when this whole vision thing started. I called my mum this morning, turns out that my nan had the same gift as me. Apparently it skips a generation _and_ she also knew a vampire. That's what triggers it – being with the supernatural."

"I recognise some of these names," Eric said quietly, frowning a little. He went back to the first page, and looked at Alice's full name.

_Alice Rosalind Carter_

_Born: 7__th__ January 1986_

_Died: -_

Her middle name seemed to ring a bell somewhere in his head, and he looked further up the page, to her grandmother.

_Rosalind Eva Lewis_

_Born: 28__th__ March 1920_

_Died: 5__th__ December 1995_

He then read through the entire tree again, this time a lot more carefully, but there was a frustration growing inside of him. He knew a lot of the names on that family tree. He had been connected to Alice in more ways than he realised. Eric slammed down the papers on his desk and leaned back in his chair, his eyes wide.

"Eric?" concern laced Alice's voice. He looked at her, his eyes still wide. "What is it?"

"There are so many names in here that I know and they all had the same gift as you. I knew every single woman who had your gift and I know a vampire who knew your grandmother."

"O-oh," was all Alice could say. Now that was a shock at least. Eric had known her family, dating back to the fifteenth century. There was a possibility that he had known them dating further back than that. "Did- did you know them further back than that?"

Eric was silent for a moment.

"I think so. If I recall correctly, I'm sure it started out in the thirteenth century. An ancestor of yours, her name... her name was Atheleys, and I came across her in Italy. As to why she was in Italy, I am not sure. I remember seeing her being beaten almost to death, for no reason whatsoever. The three men were heavily drunk, and I killed them. She was unconscious, bleeding a lot and I gave her a small amount of my blood so she could heal..." Eric closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose. "When she came round, she was going on about the gods for some strange reason. I assumed she was going mad, and so I ran off before I killed her myself."

Alice nodded slowly, and Eric tilted his head to the side as he looked at her.

"I would tell you more about her if I had stuck around at the time, but I didn't. You'd be interested to know that the name _Atheleys_ is the thirteenth century version of _Alice,_" he chuckled slightly, but all Alice did was nod. Eric noticed Jessica was listening to them intently.

"You are not to repeat a word of this to anyone," he told her, and she nodded vigorously. There was silence in the room for a moment.

"I might go now..." Alice mumbled. She didn't feel well, after hearing all that. It felt like too much in one night. Maybe they should leave the tracing for a later time, at least until she could control her ability more properly. "If you want to circle all the names that had the same ability as I did and then give it back to me later, that would be great. I'll practice a bit more before tomorrow night as well."

Eric nodded, and Alice made to stand up, but as soon as she did her knees buckled underneath her and Eric zoomed round the desk to catch her under the elbows. He then guided her to the couch, making a motion with his head for Jessica to move to the seat where Alice had been.

"I think I overloaded you a bit," he said as he got Alice to lie down on the couch. He crouched next to her. "We'll leave this discussion for another time."

"We only had this discussion because I told you that I had sense of deja vu when I was little," she told him wearily.

"You wanted to find out more."

"You also didn't _have_ to tell me anything."

"If I hadn't, you would have pestered me forever," Eric gave her a small smile, which she returned. "Stay here for tonight. I'm going to show Jessica how to feed now, but I won't bring Pam. She'll be around if you need anything."

"She comes across as lazy..."

"She's _incredibly_ lazy, but loyal, so if I tell her to keep an eye on you, she will. Not to mention she really _likes_ you. Now it really is a shame you're not bisexual, because you could have a lot of fun with Pam," he winked.

"Whatever."

"Sleep this off. I'll be back later."

Eric was about to stand up when Alice clutched the front of his tank top. He froze as she leaned towards him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll be back later," he patted her on the shoulder and stood up, putting on his jacket and leading Jessica out of the room.

The couch wasn't too comfy, but it was comfy enough for Alice to snuggle into and then fall asleep almost instantaneously.

* * *

**Eric basically knew Alice's family... that is the plot twist. We'll learn more about Atheleys and various other people that Eric can tell Alice about. Not to mention the fact we'll be heading on into season 2 as well! Leave a comment, please :)**

**Livvy x**


	12. Resolved

**I'm sorry this chapter's a week late! I had half term the previous week so I should have been able to get this up, but stuff happened and... yeah. Anyway, this sees the end of season 1, and Alice trying to make a deal/bargain with Eric! Which is always fun, I guess.**

* * *

Alice found that she had a raging headache when she woke up, and she knew what that meant, especially when it came with the vision of Sookie. She propped herself up on her elbows after shaking the images from her head and found that Eric had curiously looked up from something on his desk at her. Alice was momentarily confused, as she had assumed she had slept through the night and it was day time.

"What time is it?" she asked him after a moment.

"Half past two in the morning," Eric replied, before returning to what he was doing before. She watched as he scribbled a few things down, before he then got up and dumped what he had been writing on in her lap. "You're not looking entirely gorgeous."

"Thanks," Alice muttered sarcastically as she looked at what he had so rudely put on her. It was the family tree, with all the appropriate names circled, like she had requested. "And thanks," she then said with less sarcasm.

"It's what you asked for," Eric shrugged, and then sat on the arm of the couch by Alice's feet and folded his arms. "This would be the part where I'm supposed to ask if you're feeling any better."

"Well, it feels like my head is about to explode and I need to go find Sookie."

"At two thirty in the morning?" Eric raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I meant that later on I need to find Sookie," Alice frowned slightly. "Don't mind me, but I need to get home."

"You're not going anywhere."

"You can't tell me what to do," Alice got up off the sofa with the files and started to make her way towards the door, but a wave of nausea hit her and she leaned against the wall, a hand on her forehead. Eric rolled his eyes. "I need to go home."

"Sookie will be able to handle herself later on, whatever it is you saw."

"No," Alice said fiercely, removing her hand from her forehead and raising her finger at Eric instead, pointing at him. "No," she said again, then took a few steps towards him. "No," she then poked his nose, a gesture which had him raise an eyebrow. Giggling, Alice poked Eric on the nose again, and he was highly unamused by this.

"Stop doing that," he told her, and she sat back down on the sofa again, still chuckling to herself. He found it odd the way humans acted if they felt somewhat dizzy or nauseous. Alice had been determined, then giggly and now... his gaze flickered to her. Now she was lying back on the sofa again, clutching the files to her chest and her eyes shut. "As I said, Sookie will be able to handle herself later on."

"No she won't, it's Sookie," Alice muttered.

"She is strong," Eric pointed out. "Perhaps maybe not that physically, but mentally she is, especially in her telepathy. You need to get yourself physically _and_ mentally strong, if you want to survive among the darkness. Starting with mental. You have really got to sort out this whole nausea issue on the day something you saw is going to _happen_."

"Don't think I don't know that."

"I'm not sure you do," Eric then sighed, moving to sit back behind his desk with his feet up on it. "When you tried to stop Longshadow from attacking Sookie, you _fainted_ afterwards," there was a hint of distaste in his voice, and Alice knew what words were about to come out of his mouth, and wished she did not have to hear them. "You're weak," and there it was.

"Perhaps if I learnt a bit more about the visions, then maybe I won't be so weak, which I know I am."

"At least you know that you're weak," he rolled his eyes, wondering why he did take on this human in the first place, but he couldn't go back now, not after finding out she was the latest in a long line of people that he knew, and had the exact same gift as them. "As for learning more about the visions, you're clearly not ready for that yet. You don't have enough control over them."

"Can we stop talking about the _blatantly obvious_, please?" Alice frowned as she opened her eyes.

"But then saying that," Eric continued as if Alice hadn't spoken. "I did tell you I knew a vampire who knew your grandmother. If anything he has more information than I do about all of this. However, he is Sheriff of Area Nine and I have not seen him for quite a while, and he is probably very busy at the moment," he was silent, almost in a thoughtful way. Alice didn't say anything in response to this. She just wanted to go home, get a few hours of rest in her comfy bed...

"I need to borrow your car," she suddenly announced. "Do you have a car?"

"Of course I have a car," Eric shook his head in disbelief. "I may be a Viking, but really, I'm not that old-fashioned," he quipped. "And no, you are not borrowing my car."

"I'm not running to Bon Temps later on in the day if Sookie is about to wind up dead..." Alice said, closing her eyes again. "Please may I borrow your car?" she asked more politely.

"No means _no_."

Alice mulled something over in her head. Perhaps she could strike a deal with him.

"If I borrow your car, then I can owe you."

Eric paused for a moment before answering.

"You owe me anyway. I saved your life the other night, I also gave you a job."

"The car borrowing is just for a day. If I somehow damage it, I'll pay for the repairs."

"Fine. You can borrow the car, and yes you _will be_ paying for any damages if there are any, which I sincerely hope there aren't," Eric raised an eyebrow at her, not that she could really see him do that, considering she was lying down at such an angle she wouldn't notice what facial expressions he made. "However, you can only borrow the car if you can make it out of my office without stopping to lean against the wall so that you don't pass out on my floor. Then I'll drive you home, leave the car with you and you have to return it by nine tonight," he smirked at Alice as she slowly sat up, scowling at him. Her face was slowly draining of colour and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. All the same, she stood up.

Eric could feel the determination come back and radiate from her. It was obvious her head was killing her and she just wanted to keel over onto the floor her head was giving her that much grief. Not to mention Alice kept wincing with every sluggish step she took towards the door. Surprisingly, she did not stop once, even though Eric could feel the temptation come from her. Alice managed to make it out of the office, and Eric heard a sigh of relief.

He ventured out of the office holding his car keys and saw that Alice was on the floor, leaning against the wall, the files in her lap and a hand over her eyes.

"I did it, so you have to loan me the car now."

"That I do," Eric chuckled. "And since you're being so _damsel in distress_ right now..." he bent down and scooped up Alice in his arms, something which she did not exactly enjoy, and tried to bat him away while on the verge of unconsciousness.

"I– am– not– a– damsel– in– distress!" Alice hit Eric's chest between every word, only causing him to laugh.

"Hmmm, just sleep. You'll be home soon enough, and if you actually _are_ sleeping by the time we get to your house, I'm not waking you up."

"You are invited into my house, Eric," Alice muttered, having given up on trying to get out of his arms, not entirely realising that Eric had just tricked her into letting him into her house. He figured she would probably realise when she saw him again when returning his car.

He exited Fangtasia and walked down the side alley, leading to where his very sleek, shiny, black car was parked. Judging by Alice's breathing pattern evening out, he assumed she had already fallen asleep again. He pressed the unlock button on the little device among his keys, unlocking the car. Eric let go of Alice's legs so that he could open the door to the back seat, and he thought about the fact that if any other humans saw what was going on, it would look very suspicious.

Eric managed to get Alice in the back seat, and he shut the door, heading round to the front and getting in the driver's seat. This was probably one of the strangest tasks he had done in a very long time, but it was necessary. She was going to owe him, so he might as well. He didn't fancy having a sleeping human in his office all night, possibly all day. She probably would have stolen his car too during the day, just to go and help Sookie, so it was a good thing he had lent it to her anyway.

As he drove to Alice's house, he occasionally looked in the rear view mirror to see if she was still on the back seat and not about to fall off or anything. He'd most likely get an earful from Alice the next time she saw him if she _had_ fallen off of the seat.

He pulled up outside her house, switched off the engine and sighed. He'd have to fish the front door key out of her jacket pocket. That should be fun. Eric made his way round to the back, and quickly found the aforementioned key in the first pocket he checked. He zipped up to the house, opened the door and then came back to bring Alice inside. He carefully shut the door of his car with his heel, and did the same with her front door.

Eric headed straight up the stairs and into the only open door on the landing which led to Alice's bedroom, where he carefully deposited her on the bed. He then took his time in surveying his surroundings. It was quite obvious that it was a woman's room he was in, considering the chest of drawers had a few bits and pieces of make-up lying on top of it, a handbag and some photos of her and most likely her friends from England, all in quaint picture frames. He almost laughed when he saw the bra hanging from the doorknob of the wardrobe.

He then figured he should probably leave, but this house was so fascinating. Eric had not been inside a human house for a very long time, and he wanted to explore, however he knew that would _severely_ piss off Alice, and so decided to leave her a note. He spotted a notepad and pen on her bedside drawer, and scrawled something on it, leaving the car keys there with it too, and then he was gone.

* * *

Alice finally got up at midday, feeling only a fraction better. The first thing she did was take a shower and change into something else. She then noticed the car keys and note on her bedside table. The note was written with tidy handwriting that was slightly slanted, quite large and read:

_Alice,_

_It was hard not to have a look around your house, as I have not been in a human house for a very long time. I didn't snoop because you'd (try) to bite my head off later on. Also you shouldn't leave your bra lying around, who knows who could take it in their curiosity?_

_Don't even __think__ about driving about 40mph in my car with a headache. I don't care if you're paying for damages, just __don't__ drive fast._

_Eric_

She rolled her eyes and tore the piece of paper from the notepad, scrunching it up and throwing it in small paper bin she had in her room, before going to look out the window. Alice's eyes widened at the sight of Eric's car.

"Wow..." she muttered, and then squeezed her eyes shut tight, feeling the vision push itself forward. Alice held onto it, taking note of where Sookie would be, which was in a graveyard near Bill's house. She had to make her way to Bon Temps now.

It was stupid to run, but that's exactly what Alice did. She ran down to the car, pretty much jumping into it and revving up the engine as quickly as she could, and sped off from the curve. "Forty miles an hour my ass," Alice said as she drove past that limit that Eric had imposed on her to Bon Temps.

As she went down the parish road that would lead her to the graveyard, Alice noticed another car way up ahead. No, it was a car, it looked a lot like Sam's SUV and he was driving pretty fast. Maybe he had finally figured out who the killer was too, and knew that Sookie was in danger, so Alice carried on following him at a distance. About five minutes later, he turned off to the left and so did Alice, finding that they were going up a driveway. She stopped about fifteen metres from Sam's car, noticing him get out, run into a house that was obviously Sookie's, and then come out screaming out for the waitress.

Alice thought this would be a good time to get out of her car, and she began running up towards Sam, who didn't notice her, and ran off ahead of her, beginning to strip off his clothing in the process. What the hell was he doing? Then Alice saw perhaps the strangest thing ever.

He turned into a collie dog right before her eyes, carrying on running in the direction of the graveyard. She stopped short for a moment, with no idea how to react, before remembering that Sookie was in danger and carried on after the dog... Sam.

It took a while before actually reaching where Sookie was, being strangled against a gravestone by a man – Alice vaguely remembered from spending time at Merlotte's that his name was Rene – and then Sam leaped and attacked him. Unfortunately, Rene grabbed something and knocked Sam the dog round the head with it, knocking him out before continuing to kick the limp form, which transformed back in human Sam. Alice could see that Sookie was also unconscious at the foot of the gravestone, and Rene was seriously confused by Sam (which made two of them).

Alice was watching from the trees nearby and couldn't really do much, Rene was obviously too strong. However he was occupied by kicking Sam, and calling him names and obscenities, when she noticed a discarded shovel on the ground. It was right between her and Rene.

Feeling like hell, Alice ran faster than she had done before, grabbed the shovel and whacked Rene right round the head with it, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Fuck!" Rene yelled out, realising that there was a third person involved, and Sookie chose this moment to regain consciousness. Alice was breathing heavily, and was about to turn to her friend, when-

"Watch out!" Sookie called out.

Rene grabbed Alice's ankle and in her fright, she stabbed down with the shovel on the back of his neck, and Rene Lenier moved no more. Alice dropped the shovel, tears in her eyes and her hands clapped over her mouth.

_She had just killed a person._

"Oh my god..." Alice felt shaky, due to her head and what she had just done. Sookie stood next to her, and placed a hand on her back, soothingly rubbing it. "I killed someone," she whispered.

"It was self defence," said a male voice. Alice looked over her shoulder and saw a very naked Sam Merlotte standing by the two women.

"You have some explaining to do," Alice replied, removing her hands from her mouth. Before Sam could answer her, she spotted something burning at the edge of the graveyard and realised what – or more accurately, who – it was. "Oh Bill Compton, you are an _idiot_."

Sookie ran over to the burning body, Sam going after her. Alice found she couldn't move, and just sat on the ground next to Rene's dead body, hugging her knees and crying. The other two came back over a few moments later, Sookie sobbing and Sam carrying Bill's charred body, where he put it in the recently dug grave near Rene. The waitress watched as Sam covered up Bill's body with the pile of earth next to the hole, and Alice could not take her eyes off of Rene.

* * *

After some heavy questioning from the police and a hospital visit to make sure she hadn't been harmed, Alice's head felt a lot better and she was sitting at the kitchen table in Sookie's house, sipping on the cup of coffee that Sam had made her. It was night time, and Sookie had visitors in the form of Lafayette and his cousin Tara (who Sam had informed her had been Sookie's best friend for a long time).

Alice was left alone in the kitchen for quite some time until Tara came in to see her before she left with Lafayette.

"Hey, I'm Tara," said the pretty woman sitting down opposite Alice, giving her a small smile. Laf

"I'm Alice."

"Yeah, Sookie said you helped save her life."

"Not really..."

"You got rid of that son of a bitch who's been lying to us all this time. You helped save the town, Alice."

"It doesn't feel that way," Alice murmured, looking down. Tara was silent for a moment.

"I'll see you around, Alice," Tara stood up and gave the other woman a squeeze of the shoulder before leaving, and Sam came in.

"Well if it isn't Sirius Black," she rolled her eyes and took a gulp of her coffee.

"I know, I know..." Sam sighed and sat down at the table. He a square piece of cotton taped to his head. "I'm sorry I never told you I could that."

"Yet I told you all that stuff about me," Alice spoke quietly, a little bit hurt. "What are you, Sam?"

"I'm a shifter. We can turn into any animal we like, as long as we've... imprinted with one. My preference is a collie dog," there was no point in dodging around telling Alice now. She had seen him shift.

"So what's that now? Vampires, mind-readers, me, serial killers and shifters," Alice sighed, slightly put out, but then she smiled. "I'm glad you told me, Sam."

"I am too."

Before Alice could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, so Alice drained the rest of her coffee and went with Sam to go answer it. Eric stood there, arms folded looking highly amused. Alice turned to Sam.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sam," she then glanced at Eric. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Sam didn't look too impressed.

"It all depends on if Alice lived up to her end of the bargain she struck with me last night. Well, part of it anyway," Eric said.

Sam turned to Alice with an eyebrow raised.

"I borrowed his car," she explained. "I didn't damage it and now I really owe him."

"It's also past nine o'clock, and when did I tell you to return the car by?"

"Let's go, we can discuss somewhere else... Sam, tell Sookie I said bye."

Alice stepped over the threshold of the house and followed Eric to his car, chucking him the keys when they reached it. As they got inside and drove off, Eric spoke.

"Word on the street is, you killed a man."

"Fuck off, we're not talking about this now."

"Did you like the note I left you?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me."

"I threw it in the bin."

"You must have liked it."

"I have one question for you, Eric: if I liked your note so much, why did I throw it in the bin?"

There was not another word spoken from the vampire, and Alice felt vaguely triumphant.

* * *

**I don't know if any of you guys noticed the subtle mention of Godric when in Eric's office? Also, Alice killed a man... *gasps* you'll see in the next couple of chapters that this gives Eric some sort of hold over her, and there will be instances of blackmail, plus more Bill to come. And I promise the next chapter will be on time.**

**Comments are always appreciated!**

**Livvy x**


	13. Panic

**You'll probably ship some stuff after reading this. I think... XD Also I did some intensive research for this chapter (you'll see what I mean) and it also came from experience with someone I know... anyway enjoy!**

* * *

"So tell me exactly what happened," Eric lounged back in his chair, crossing his legs and resting them up on the desk, his arms folded. Alice sighed as she shifted slightly in the seat opposite him.

"There's really not much to tell. Did you know Sam was a shifter?"

Eric was silent for a moment.

"Yes. I did. I could smell it on you every time you had been with him at Merlotte's."

"A little warning would have been great..." she murmured.

"It wasn't my secret to share, but at least you know now. I want you to tell me the whole story."

"Like I said, there's _really _not much to tell."

"Oh I think there is. You said you wanted to help Sookie, and yet she was apparently pretty beaten up and you did not have a single mark," he raised an eyebrow, and Alice scowled at him.

"And why would _you_ care so much about Sookie?"

"Who said I care about her?"

"Going by your tone and the fact that you seem to be blaming me for what happened to her," she spat.

"You're walking a very fine line here."

"I'm always walking a fine line the moment I step into this bloody bar," Alice pointed out, folding her arms now quite cross. "If you really want to know what happened, then _fine:_ the moment I woke up and read your note, I ran out to the car, drove like a maniac to Bon Temps, followed _Sam Merlotte_ to Sookie's house where he _changed_ into a collie dog. I continued to follow him and saw him get knocked out by Lenier, and Sookie was also unconscious, so I grabbed the nearest shovel and whacked him round the head. Sookie managed to wake up in time to essentially scream as Lenier had his grimy hands around my ankle and so in my fright I stabbed down the back of his neck and _killed him_. I wouldn't have been able to save your darling telepath even if I tried."

"Stop making out like I care about her."

"Then stop acting like you do if you don't want me to make those assumptions!"

"I do _not_ care about Sookie Stackhouse."

"Oh please, you act so different around her. You're really quite the puppy dog to her, aren't you?"

Eric's eyes flashed dangerously at Alice and she looked at her lap, her cheeks turning red. He was then in the chair next to her in a second, pulling her head back by her hair, exposing her neck to him. Eric's fangs clicked out and he leaned over, gently grazing the pale flesh of Alice's neck with them. However knowing that biting her out of anger would not be entirely productive, he retracted his sharp teeth and loosened his grip on her hair. She had been breathing heavily out of fear, but that was slowly simmering down. He then let go of her entirely and leaned back in the chair.

"I am _not_ a fucking puppy dog," he growled.

"Then don't act like one," Alice murmured, the redness of her cheeks now returning to her normal colour.

"I don't know how I put up with you."

"I don't know _why_ I put up with you."

"Because I am the only person you know that can help you."

"Help. Is that what we're calling it now? You're _helping_ me? No, you're training me. You're right, you're not the puppy dog – I am."

"That seems like the perfect analogy for you," Eric said, amusement lacing his voice. "Especially if you take into account that you do what I tell you. Now would be the best time to remind you that you _owe_ me; for saving your skin, for getting you used to your ability and for borrowing my car. You are highly indebted to me."

That was true. Over the past month and a bit, Alice had somehow managed to dig herself deeper into Eric's debt due to the fact the things he did for her outweighed anything she did for him. Her tasks for him were menial in comparison to anything Eric did for her.

"It seems I am..." she admitted out loud.

"You'll have to do anything I ask of you."

"Even if it may be something that I don't want to do?"

"If you don't want your family to find out what you did, then you'll have to," he sneered at Alice and her expression became blank.

"You wouldn't do that," she replied, feeling quite certain. "Would you?" all certainty lost.

"Sweet little Alice, murdering a civilian... what will mummy and daddy think?"

"Shut up, please," Alice began tapping her knee with her finger, becoming nervous and uncomfortable with what Eric was trying to do.

"Then do what I ask of you."

"He was hardly a civilian, killing innocent people..." she ignored what he had said.

"But then _you_ killed _him._"

"Self defence, I told you he gave me a fright!" Alice was becoming more distressed by the second. "Would you really tell my family?"

"I could. I could tell them everything. Where you live – yes, I know you are essentially hiding – what's happened between us this past month and a half, and perhaps even embellish what you did to Lenier today..." Eric looked at her smugly. "Swear you'll do what I ask of you, or face the consequences."

"You can't hold this over me forever."

"Sweetie, I'm going to be living forever," he folded his arms.

"Well then I'll have to hope you'll die the true death in the near future," she managed to compose herself enough to glare at the vampire.

"Alice, do you _really_ mean that?"

"Well, whatever I felt for you previously seems to have vanished in the past half an hour, and it seems being civil with you has come to an end," she thought that made her point about him dying the true death perfectly clear.

"Not that I particularly cared for your feelings or civility in the first place."

"You seemed so glad when I started being civil towards you," she pointed out.

"Hmm. Not really, but back to the topic at hand... do you swear that you will do what I ask of you?" Eric was beginning to grow annoyed that she had dodged his request for quite some time now. "Unless of course you really want your family to find out everything."

Alice was silent for a moment before responding.

"You're cruel and heartless and I don't want to argue with you, because... I..." then the full realisation of what Alice had done earlier than day finally hit her, stemming from the entire conversation. She jumped off of her chair and backed away from Eric towards the office door, her hands clutching the sides of her head. "I killed a person, Eric, oh god... it's been ten hours since it happened and I've not really thought..."

Eric could only watch as she fled from the office, but he knew that she had not gone far. He could feel her still close by, out in the alley. He sat and waited for her to come back, honestly getting quite angry now that she had disappeared. Seven minutes passed by. She was still in the alley. Another ten minutes. _What the hell? _He needed to get an answer from her.

He got up out of his chair and made his way out to the alleyway, where Alice was leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped around her middle. She was shaking, and as soon as she heard him approaching, raised a hand to him, signalling _stop._ Eric folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, curious as to why she was doing this. He could do what he wanted, so he took a few more steps forward and the woman matched that amount to get away from him, lowering her arm. Interesting. Something was most definitely wrong here. Eric stayed in the same spot, waiting for her to speak. She did not.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Alice shook her head.

"Do you want to go back inside?"

Again, the shake of her head. This was going to turn into a game of twenty questions.

"Are you frightened?"

No. It seemed very similar, considering the way she was acting. He noticed in the artificial light that she was paler than normal, and it clicked in his head.

"Panic attack?"

A nod. He supposed it was to do with everything that had happened today. A warning would have been nice about this sort of thing, so he could have at least had some time to read up on it. Now he had to act in an appropriate way.

"I take it you don't want to come back inside."

Shake of the head. This was going to become quite time consuming, as she wouldn't say anything to him, so he would have to keep guessing at what Alice might want.

"Want to go home?"

No. Eric couldn't think of what else she could possibly want and realised he would have to wait for her to calm down. There was a point whilst he waited that he breathing started to go funny, but then she managed to make it normal again. An hour and a half, maybe two passed and they were both still absolutely silent.

"This hasn't happened for a while," Alice suddenly said. Eric looked at his watch. It was half past one in the morning.

"When was the last time it happened?"

"I was sixteen or seventeen and I was doing some form of sport, got knocked out and when I woke up in hospital I really... freaked..."

Eric thought back to the first night he met Alice, and how she suggested she should go to a hospital to get her head seen to, but she became afraid. That explained a lot. An irrational fear. He certainly hoped that working for him, she would be able to keep herself safe, unless of course she wanted to end up in the place she hated the most. It also seemed that shocking events would bring it on. Eric almost became irritated with himself for teasing her so relentlessly, as he had said to himself he needed to keep her... well, not happy, but content enough that she would do what he asked. But he hadn't been lying when he said that if she didn't do what he asked, he would spill everything to her family.

"Also, I'll do what you ask. As long as you don't bring up what happened today, alright?"

"I make the rules."

"Well what I said was a very cheap shot at trying to get you to be nice," a hint of a smile crossed her face, and she stood away from the wall, facing Eric and letting her hands drop to her sides.

"I'm not a nice person."

"Yeah, I've known for a while."

"And while I may not be a nice person, I have to say... you are. Well, once you get past the annoying outer shell."

"O-oh, okay," Alice turned her head away from him as her cheeks turned pink. A sort of compliment from Eric Northman, and one that was not perverted in anyway whatsoever.

"Are you blushing?" he chuckled slightly. "I thought anything you felt for me was gone?"

"Not completely..." she muttered. "Plus you... you stayed here. For... how long?"

"Two hours, give or take."

Alice nodded and was silent for a moment.

"I- I might go home now. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah? What time?"

"Nine, as usual."

"Okay," she started making her way past Eric towards the front of the building, and he walked beside her. Neither of them said anything and Alice wasn't sure why he came with her, but when they got to the front of the building, she placed a hand on his shoulder. They stopped and he turned to face her. Alice then went on tip toe and placed a kiss on his cheek.

It was strange how their relationship worked. He could be highly threatening at one point, but then totally fine the next. Yet despite his constantly changing mood, Alice could feel at ease with him, comfortable, perhaps even stretching to calm. Even though he had had his hand around her throat earlier on, he pulled through by showing a better side to him as he patiently waited for her panic to subside. She may have not known him for that long and had to tiptoe around him sometimes, but he was generally... good towards her.

In all fairness, Alice thought that maybe sometimes she shouldn't try to argue with his requests of her, as it would only lead to misery on her behalf. However she didn't like the way he would enforce his requests, for instance he was blackmailing her this time, and this was something she couldn't ignore. She was unsure whether it was to do with the blood, but Alice could feel herself starting to see the good somewhere in Eric.

A hand now finding a place to rest on her back jolted Alice out of her thoughts. She hadn't realised that after pecking Eric she had leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. It seemed that Eric had been confused as to what was going on, before he finally put his hand on her back, holding Alice close to him. Alice then wrapped her arms around the waist of the tall blonde Viking that was displaying a minuscule amount of affection she wasn't aware he was capable of.

"You should go home," Eric then said, reaching behind him with his free hand to get Alice to let go of him, which she did. Alice stepped back from him, but since Eric had not move his hand from her back before she moved, it was now resting on her waist. It was now Alice's turn to take his hand and move it. She then looked up at him.

"You should get a haircut," with those final words, Alice began to walk away from him, back to her quaint home. Eric stood there for moment, watching the red-headed woman leave. As he made his way back into the bar to sit up on his throne, all he could think of was that moment they had just had. He wondered if it would become a regular thing. He didn't particularly _want_ it to, but... the general feeling of it was nice.

_Wait, what?_

Eric mentally staked himself. They had nearly revoked their civility towards each other tonight – well, they did, but then it was somehow reinstated. Nothing between them could possibly be _nice_ either. That word had been extremely overused tonight. However it did fit accordingly to Alice as a person, because she was... nice. With a bite when necessary too. Perhaps he should avoid getting into such a close proximity with her. He sighed. This was slowly becoming more complicated than it needed to be.

He then noticed some fangbanger trying to take a photo of him. He beckoned the man up there, snatched the camera and crushed it in his hands.

* * *

"_Is that ABBA in the background?"_

"Yep," Alice was on the phone with Sookie, who had called her part way through the afternoon to see if she was doing okay. Alice thought she was doing pretty well, although currently she had her mobile phone in hand, blasting 70s music through the house and was sitting on the couch the wrong way so that her head was above the floor and the bottom half of her legs were draped over the back of the piece of furniture. She was also eating chocolate like this, which she could admit was stupid.

"_Sam said you left with Eric last night."_

"Must every conversation lead back to him?" Alice reached for the bar of chocolate and broke off another small square of it, popping it in her mouth.

"_No, but I was concerned when he told me."_

"Nothing happened, don't worry," Alice lied. A fair amount went down at Fangtasia last night, but she didn't feel comfortable telling Sookie yet. "I just had to tell him about our oh-so _splendid _day. Oh yeah, is Bill alive?"

"_Yep! Thank god... I don't know what I'd do without him. I love him so much, Alice."_

"Well then, go do something with him tonight."

"_We're gonna do something in a couple of days."_

"Of course. You did get quite banged up yesterday. Sam's given you some time off, yes?"

"_He sure has."_

"Good, otherwise I would have gone smacked him," her comment made Sookie laugh a little bit, and her friend sounded raspy. Alice made a face. "Geez, Sookie, you sound awful."

"_I feel it."_

"Do you want me to come over and keep you company?"

"_Nah, I'll be alright. Tara's coming over soon anyway."_

"Oh I met Tara last night. She seems cool."

"_She is. Anyway, I'm wondering why you're listening to ABBA?"_

"I don't know. I just felt like listening to ABBA."

"_...ABBA is Swedish..."_

It took a moment for Alice to get why Sookie was reminding her of the band's home country.

"Oh fuck!"

"_Seriously... did anything happen last night?"_

"I may or may not have kissed him.. on the cheek! And then I think he hugged me. I'm not sure. I was kind of in my own world and I was leaning on him, so he just did the instinctive thing?"

"_He can be affectionate?"_

"I was shocked too. The sort-of-hug was nice."

"_There's more to this, isn't there?"_

"Yes," Alice sighed, eating a bit more chocolate. She then proceeded to explain the events of Fangtasia, including every detail possible. It was safe to say that Sookie was outraged with Eric blackmailing Alice.

"_And yet you still kissed him?!"_

"Did you forget the part where he stood outside with me for two hours, when he could have been making fangbangers drool all over him?"

"_Okay, fair enough, but what is the deal between you and Eric?"_

"You know, Sookie, I'm not entirely sure."

* * *

**A slightly complicated situation abound then, eh? Bill is going to be in the next chapter, because Alice asks him to help her out with her little blackmail issue. As you can tell, things with Eric and Alice are... starting to develop. It has to start now because of some of the stuff I have planned for season 2, which will start in a fair few chapters time.**

**Review, maybe?**

**Livvy x**


	14. Games

**Ahhh, sorry for this being late again guys! I'm been super busy trying to sort out revision stuff, when to go to school in the Easter holidays for some ICT and Art sessions, catching up with Game of Thrones, writing a script, writing this, writing Doctor Who fic, running a tumblr, doing coursework, mentally preparing myself for my GCSEs which start in five weeks... wow. It's horrible. The only free time I really get to myself is at the weekend and even then I'm made to revise and it's like "just a small break from life please?"**

**Anyway, the chapter is here now!**

* * *

The next night was the more normal routine of Alice going to meet Eric to practice, something of which she was thankful for. The only not-so-normal thing about it was Jessica being there at some points. It seemed as if Eric was beginning to get increasingly agitated with Jessica, even though he had only kept her for a few days. Alice could see why though – Jessica was quite annoying during that time, constantly whining about goodness-knows-what, and Pam had to keep entering the office to get the new baby vampire.

And that was within the first hour of being at the night club.

"What are those on the desk?" Alice pointed at a little drawstring bag near Eric. He briefly glanced at them.

"Smelling salts."

"Why do you have smelling salts?" she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Going by what you've told me when you've done this in your own home, you have a tendency to become unconscious," he said, unamused. "It's a necessary precaution, you could say."

Alice was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Alright, fair enough."

"Now before you get back to it, I need to know... have you dreamt about any of your visions?"

She shook her head, and Eric then gestured with his hand to tell her to continue. He would occasionally drop in a word or two if he could sense she was losing her concentration if she hadn't seen anything for a while. He even thought that at one point he would have to use the smelling salts, but then Alice opened her eyes and managed not to fall off the chair just in time.

"I hate working with the same one over and over," she grumbled. "Because I'm basically watching you attack the same person repeatedly. It's not fun."

"Then change who you think about."

"That'll be hard because I have to get used to unlinking that particular emotion and all that, just so I don't keep feeling it for a while."

"Stop complaining then."

"You'd be complaining if you were in my shoes."

"I wouldn't be able to _fit_ in your shoes. They're so tiny," he chuckled when Alice glared at him. "I know it was a metaphor, but I couldn't resist."

"I have normal sized feet, yours are just incredibly huge."

"You know what they say about a man with large feet," Eric winked at her. Alice's cheeks flamed in embarrassment, knowing exactly what he meant. After getting over her initial fluster, she looked at Eric directly in the eyes, and burst out laughing. She was properly laughing for the first time in quite a while. Eric had no idea why she was laughing so hard at what had just occurred, but he found it... cute. Well, cute and annoying at the same time. It was at this point Pam came in, hands on her hips.

"I heard laughing. What did I miss?"

Alice stopped and turned to face Pam, grinning.

"Not much, just Eric being Eric."

"I need a break from Jessica," she then stated bluntly.

"It's been two hours, Pamela. Just one more and then Alice will leave and I will take over," Eric replied, a little exasperated.

"If you need someone to keep Jessica company, I can do it?" Alice then suggested. Eric stared daggers at the back of her head, while Pam looked a little more than pleased.

"Eric?"

"She needs to keep at this," he then told his progeny.

"I don't even know what _this_ is, you haven't told me."

"Look, I'll tell you," as she stood up, Alice rolled her eyes at the fact Eric hadn't even told his own flesh and blood about this. "I won't stay with Jessica by myself, if you want to know."

"Alice, what did I tell you?" Eric growled. As Alice looked at him, she noticed a smug expression on her face, and she gulped.

"I'll stay an extra hour tomorrow."

"Fine," he waved the pair of them off and they exited his office.

"Where is Jessica?" Alice asked Pam.

"In the ladies room."

The ladies room at Fangtasia was pink and decorated with cartoon paintings of vampires. Alice thought it was quite ironic that the vampires were portrayed in a stereotypical way in these cartoons too. Jessica was sitting on a small, dark pink sofa against one of the walls. As soon as she saw Alice, she jumped up, fangs bared. The human woman sighed.

"Are we going to go through this every time I meet you?"

"But I'm _hungry!_" Jessica whined.

"You were hungry an hour ago," Pam said through gritted teeth. "God damn baby vamps," she then whispered to Alice, even though Jessica could hear.

"Hey!"

"Shut up. I've given you some extremely beautiful clothes to wear, and you'll get to feed later."

"I want _her_ blood."

"'Her' has a name," Alice muttered...

"A very pretty name," Pam batted her eyelashes at Alice. "But you can't have her blood, because she is Eric's. It means you cannot touch her at all."

Alice quirked an eyebrow at Pam, who just gave her a look that said to _go with it_. Jessica looked grumpy and went and stood in the corner. Pam then sat on the little sofa, which was when Alice began to explain everything to do with why Eric held such a deep interest in her. The vampire found the story highly interesting, and parts of it seemed to amuse her, especially the case of blackmail, which caused her to understand that strange bit of interaction earlier. It took Alice about half an hour to tell Pam everything in detail, something of which the vampire was grateful for.

"My maker has put you in quite a difficult position," Pam smirked, and Alice groaned.

"I can't get out of it either."

"Oh you won't be able to get out of that for a _long time_."

"Great," she replied sarcastically, then looked at Jessica. "She's been oddly quiet."

"She's learnt when to listen, that's all," Pam shrugged, and Alice nodded.

"I think I might head off now. You can deal with Jessica for about half an hour longer, yes?"

"Probably. She'll become annoying as fuck when you go."

"I can hear you, you know," Jessica growled, and Pam rolled her eyes.

"We know. Say bye to Alice."

"Bye Alice..."

"Bye Jessica, see you around Pam," Alice smiled and then left, heading back towards Eric's office to tell him she was going. Also her jacket was in there and needed to pick it up. She considered not knocking, because the door was ajar, but then she heard... noises. Really inappropriate noises.

Alice tentatively knocked on the door and the sounds stopped. Out came a random fangbanger a few minutes later with a bite mark on her neck, and then she was permitted to enter. She walked back into the office to find that Eric was half naked and had a little smear of blood around his mouth. She stared at him in silence for a moment, but he didn't put his shirt back on.

"Yes?" Eric then said.

"I err... I came to get my jacket," Alice pointed over at the couch, and Eric picked up said item of clothing and threw it to her. She almost dropped it while trying to catch it, because she wasn't paying attention to what was going on, and that was Eric's fault for not wearing a shirt.

"I take it you're done for the night," Eric said.

"Umm, yeah..." Alice nodded, putting on her jacket and just standing there in the doorway, her eyes never leaving Eric's beautiful, toned chest.

"Do you want me to put my shirt back on?"

"No," she replied all to quickly. Her gaze snapped up to his face, and he was smirking.

"Do you want to do anything else?"

"No."

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes," Alice was gone from the office, out of Fangtasia and on her way home, she thought over what had happened towards the end of her visit, and she mentally scolded herself. Yes, Eric was attractive, but there was no need for her to act like _that_. She put it down to the fact the blood was still in her system, because she'd had another one of those dreams last night.

After arriving back home, Alice pulled out her mobile phone, and called Bill. She needed his advice on the blackmail issue and whether it was possible to get out of it sooner rather than later, without any consequences for herself. It was going to be hard, but she hoped Bill could offer something useful.

About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Alice came downstairs and opened it to find Bill there. She smiled at him sheepishly.

"I wonder if there'll ever come a time when we just do social visits," she said.

"Evidently, today is not that day. May I...?"

"Oh, please come in Bill," Alice moved aside and allowed the vampire to enter her home. He looked around it for a moment before going through the arch to the living room while Alice closed the front door. "Can I get you a TruBlood?" she asked, coming in after him. Bill was sitting comfortably in the arm chair nearest the fireplace.

"That would be nice, thank you."

Alice left Bill in the living room as she went to the kitchen, pulling one of the bottles from the fridge and placing it in the microwave so that she could heat it up. It seemed odd for Alice to have a beverage for vampires in her house, but because she knew a few, she decided it would be a good idea to have some of the stuff, just in case. After it had warmed up, Alice took it out and gently shook it, taking the cap off afterwards and going to give it to Bill. She then sat on the floor opposite him, sitting by the warm fire she had started up after coming home. Bill watched her with curiosity as he quietly sipped on the synthetic blood, before speaking up.

"So you need my help again?"

"Yeah... except this time, it's more serious. For instance, how do you get out of blackmail?" she smiled at him with a sarcastic sweetness.

"You're being blackmailed?"

"Yes I am."

"By... Eric?"

"Yes. He says if I don't do anything he asks and tells me to do, he'll tell my family where I'm living in Louisiana and the fact I killed Rene Lenier. Even though it was in self defence, killing him," Alice then sighed.

"I'm not sure if I can help you there," Bill reached over to place the bottle on the coffee table. "Eric is higher up in the vampire hierarchy than me, and it would not be wise if I tried to do anything against him."

"The really strange about it is, he's already paying me, so I'd do various things for him regarding my visions anyway. But... because obviously there are going to be _some_ things I won't want to do, he's now holding the fact that I killed someone over me."

"Blackmail and manipulation. Sounds a lot like Eric," Bill commented, raising his eyebrows.

"Yep, and what really doesn't help is that-" Alice stopped short, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"Alice... what is it?"

"Err... it doesn't help that he's really attractive. I mean, really attractive. See, before I came home, I was with Pam and Jessica, then I went back to get my jacket and he had been drinking the blood of a fangbanger. Shirtless."

"You're lusting after him," Bill smirked.

"Shut up," Alice murmured, staring at the flames. "It's not my fault."

"No, of course not. You've had his blood twice now and it's still probably not left your system, so naturally you would be feeling like this," Bill contemplated something for a moment. "I could try talking to him, see if he'll make things less... harsh. I could lie and tell him that you're afraid."

"That wouldn't work, he knows what I feel. He'd probably see right through that lie blood or no blood," Alice growled in frustration and then leaned back against the coffee table. "I have no idea what to do Bill, that's why I called you. Urgh, how did I get into this mess in the first place?" she put her head in her hands and groaned. Bill then came and sat next to her, patting her knee in a comforting way. Alice looked up from her hands and gave Bill and weary gaze.

"I'll think of something. Don't worry."

"Thinking of something soon would be preferable. I can always try talking to him again tomorrow, but I don't know if he'll get annoyed or not... the thing is, I don't want to be stuck inside some strange little game of his, if you see what I mean?"

Bill nodded, but before he could say anything else, there was another knock on the door. Alice looked at her watch, confused, because it was one in the morning. She then realised who it could be and her head fell into her hands again, so Bill went and answered the door to find Eric there.

"Well well, what do we have here?" he mused as he waltzed right into the living room and making himself at home on the couch. "Bill Compton and Alice Carter, having a merry gathering. May I ask why?"

"What are you doing here, Eric?" Alice turned to face the newly arrived vampire, resting her arms on the coffee table. Bill resumed his position in the arm chair.

"I came here to talk to you about what I said last night. Perhaps I was... _too_ harsh."

"Meaning...?" Alice and Bill shared a quick glance, knowing what he was talking about.

"Meaning we're going to disregard _half_ of what I said last night. I won't say a word about the Lenier incident, however, if you try anything I don't like, I'll see to it your family knows exactly where you are."

"Why would you hide from your family?" Bill frowned at Alice, who looked between the two vampires, resignedly.

"It's not my family exactly," she shifted uncomfortably. "It's... well, it's a _friend_ of my family that would want to find me. Of course, my siblings and parents being as naïve as they are, would probably tell him where I am if they knew where I lived. All they know is that I'm living in Louisiana, and that's how I intend it to stay."

"Is someone trying to hurt you?"

"No, but-"

"Oh Bill, did you not hear her? She said they 'would probably tell _him,'_" Eric smirked. "Hiding from a man?"

"More like hiding from an asshole..." Alice muttered, resting her chin on her arms.

"What did he do?"

"I'm surprised you want to know about this, however since you're being nice about it, I'll tell you. A short run down of it, because I don't like talking about it. Basically he was a bit possessive and controlling, and there were some things I did not want him to know about me and he constantly tried to force them out of me. He used to be sweet, but the last I saw of him he was acting like an idiot. I moved out into my sister's place for a while before I decided to come to Shreveport. I still can't believe I did it. I moved across the world to get peace and quiet."

"Possessive and controlling..." Bill's eyes shifted to Eric, who glared at him in response. Alice gave a small half smile.

"Eric's more possessive than controlling. It's quite endearing, actually," she smiled properly. "He doesn't want anyone to hurt me, until of course he mentions that it's because I'm of use to him," her face fell once more, something that didn't go unmissed by either vampire.

"I wouldn't even attempt to control you, because I can't," Eric said, referring to the fact he couldn't glamour Alice, which was a new piece of information for Bill.

"You can't be glamoured?"

Alice shook her head.

"What does that make you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged and then yawned. "I need to sleep. You two can carry on talking around here for a bit, I don't mind that much. There's TruBlood in the fridge and don't even think about snooping around. When you leave make sure the door's locked behind you, there's a spare key hidden in the plant pot on the porch."

Alice stood up and wearily made her way out of the living room and up the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the vampires to say anything about their staying there for a little while longer as she slept. She heard the start of another conversation on her way up, one that began with "someone's been selling vampire blood..." and that was all she heard before going out of earshot.

As she reached her room, she shut the door and then changed into some pyjama shorts and a comfy t-shirt before slipping into bed and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"I think we've outstayed our welcome long enough, Eric," Bill got up. It was coming up to four in the morning, and they had been talking about various issues in the vampire community regarding idiotic humans. "Are you coming?"

As Eric stood, he looked at the ceiling.

"I'll be going soon. Something is not right..."

Bill gave a curt nod before exiting. Eric listened very careful to the sounds coming from upstairs, and to what Alice was currently feeling. She was scared about something, he could get that much, and he could hear tiny whimpers. A few moments later, she started screaming.

Eric was up in her room within a second, and he threw on the light before going to grab the flailing woman's arms as she awoke, absolutely petrified. She tried to bat Eric away, evidently not realising who it was at first in her fright. When Alice did realise it was Eric, she began to calm down, and he pulled her up into a sitting position next to him, still holding her arms.

"Tell me," Eric said.

"I-I had a really bad dream," Alice refused to say 'nightmare' for it would have made her sound like a child.

"About...?"

"Who do you think, Eric?" her voice was on the verge of breaking and Eric tensed up entirely. If she started crying...

"About Lenier," he said in a strained voice.

"I-I wish you could glamour me!" Alice cried out, and she began sobbing, her head falling against Eric's shoulder. He let go of her arms and she clutched onto his shirt. "I don't want to live with that memory for the rest of my life!"

Hesitantly, Eric placed an arm around her and a hand on her head, stroking her hair. He didn't think that a small act of defence would affect her so greatly, but she had obviously been never exposed to violence throughout her entire life. Not that was a bad thing, however it would take a while for her to get used to things around here. Even though she had seen Longshadow disintegrate right before her eyes, her general fear level began to increase _after_ she was attacked in the woods that night.

It was strange to think he didn't want anything to hurt her, not even in her dreams, but it was the truth.

Eric stayed until she had stopped crying and fallen asleep. Never again could he go near a crying human woman.

It was far too scary.

* * *

**I have got to stop writing fluff like that. This fic is getting fluffy and my Doctor Who one is getting angsty, when it should actually be the other way around, haha! Anyway, leave a little comment?**

**Livvy x**


	15. Words

**I think instead of weekly updates, it's going to be more like "I'll update when I can." I do have exams coming up, so I need to make those my priority, so I hope you understand that. Anyway, this chapter may seem very pointless and filler-y, but I promise you it does hold some significance later on in the story, believe it or not!**

* * *

"Okay, this is the fourth house call you have made in a week. I am worried."

"You're not going to turn me away, are you?"

"No..." Alice sighed and allowed Eric into her home. It was three in the morning, and so Alice had had to drag herself out of bed to answer the door, knowing that even if she didn't, Eric would be able to just merrily come inside anyway. He made himself right at home on the big couch in the living room. "TruBlood?"

"No thank you."

"So... there's something wrong," she said, sitting in the arm chair opposite.

"There's nothing wrong, I just felt the need to talk to you about something."

"Which is?"

"We've actually omitted something regarding your visions. The days everything actually happens, you always look about ready to die."

"Thank you for that likeness," she muttered.

"I'm right."

"Yes, you are, which is a little bit more annoying," Alice groaned slightly and then curled up in the chair, trying to relax a little more.

"We're going to have to work on that too."

"But _how_? If I only get like that on the day..."

"It'll be hard, but I'll work something out."

"Great, but why are you telling me this now?"

"I figured it would be better if I did, while it was on my mind," he grinned at her.

"You could have told me earlier," Alice yawned, feeling her eyelids beginning to droop.

"I was going to tell you tomorrow, but then Pamela became rather insistent I tell you now."

"It's gone three in the morning," she moaned.

"Then why did you answer the door?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"Your knocking was loud enough to wake me up and I was too tired to shout at you."

"Okay then."

"Question... is there another reason why you're here?"

"I could have visited Bill, however he is otherwise... engaged. Also, I would have had to bring Jessica to him, something which I cannot be bothered with tonight."

"She's that annoying?"

"You don't know the half of it," he said, heavily exasperated, causing Alice to giggle a little. "It's not funny in the slightest. She whines _all the time._"

"At least she can listen when need be."

"I was expecting you to say 'listen when _necessary,_'" Eric commented.

"I'm tired, there's no time for long words," Alice shut her eyes and really snuggled down into the armchair, curled up in such a way that Eric was reminded of a cat. "Carry on with complaining."

"Well the whining and constant need for attention... I'm giving her back to Bill."

"Good. She keeps looking at me very... very... very..." Alice dropped off to sleep.

"Very carnivorously," Eric finished quietly for her. He stood up and pulled the blanket off of the back of the sofa, placing it over the now sleeping woman. He stared down at her for a moment or so, a small smile on his face, before he turned away from her and towards the door. Eric had a smile on his face due to the fact he sometimes had a knack for remembering dates. And today marked the day he had known Alice for two months, something which... pleased him.

He shut the door with a click.

* * *

"I say you're improving."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. I can tell you're more confident. I forgot to mention that two nights, but you had fallen asleep by then."

"Says the man who is standing to the woman who is lying on the floor," Alice replied dryly.

"Hmmm, even so. Five minutes," Eric said, for once actually holding out his hand to help her up. Alice took it gratefully and sat on the couch, a look of surprise on her face.

"Really?"

"Really. Also, you owe me seventy five dollars," Eric outstretched his hand, and Alice had to dig around in her bag for her purse. She got it out and placed seven ten dollar bills in his hand, as well as five one dollar bills. Eric gave her a strange look, before closing his hand and shoving it in his pocket. Alice put her purse away.

"What?"

"You had seventy five dollars on you?"

"I've had it on me, just in case."

"You knew you were going to lose?" Eric teased.

"No, I didn't, it was just a precaution... which reminds me, Bill owes me one hundred dollars," she grinned at Eric, who sneered.

"What has Bill got to do with this?"

"We had a bet going too, so don't get too annoyed," she said carefully.

"And the bet with Bill was...?"

"Well, I had the exact same bet going with you. Except instead of me betting against you that you'd be able to get me down to ten minutes unconscious by the end of the week, Bill was betting that against me – that you wouldn't be able to."

"So he bet you the same thing you bet me, only you lost against me, because you said I couldn't, and Bill lost against you because he said I couldn't?"

"Yes... weird, isn't it? Although I should point out that it was Bill that came up with it, not me, which is even weirder."

"You came up with it for between us two. This is all too strange," Eric shook his head, chuckling slightly as he leaned back against his desk.

"Hmmm, the bet or this in general?"

"This in general."

"It's stranger for me than for you," Alice pointed out. "Remember just two months ago I was a human, but then I came here and that brought out the... um, something extra."

"It's strange for me because I know your ancestors."

"You win then."

"Oh sweetie, I _always_ win," he smirked at her.

"You know, I might hold you to that."

"Another bet? You want to lose money _again?_"

"No, because last time I picked what was at stake," Alice went over to Eric. "This time, _you_ do," she poked him on the nose and gave a very sweet smile.

"Does this mean anything is on the table? And if you do that again..."

"I won't!" Alice held up her hands in surrender. "Go on. Tell me what you want to lay on the table."

"Well..."

"Eric!"

"I wasn't being serious," he rolled his eyes jokingly. "If I win, you have to kiss me. On the lips. For a substantial amount of time for it to be considered a good kiss."

"Okay... and if I win, you give me the week off."

"A week or a simple kiss hardly seems fair."

"When exactly have you ever played fair?"

Eric half-smiled and held out his hand for Alice to shake, which she did.

"Alice, how will we tell who's actually _won_ this bet?"

"There'll probably be a situation in the future where either one of us could come out on top."

"Literally?"

"No!"

"Shame..."

"Is this what we're going to do now? If we're not in danger from anything, we're just going to make bets all the time?" Alice then asked.

"That sounds like a plan."

"Oh god, no."

* * *

"Why does Bill owe you one hundred dollars?" Sookie asked in disbelief as Alice and Bill sat opposite each other in a booth in Merlotte's. After looking at the red-headed woman, the vampire decided to answer.

"We had a bet."

"The same bet I had going on with Eric. Except you knew nothing about it, which is why I let you say that he wouldn't be able to get me down to ten minutes by the end of the week, because I had already said that to him. I realised when you made that bet with me, I was probably going to lose out to Eric, hence why I didn't say anything to you," Alice smiled smugly.

"How much did you have going with Eric?" Sookie was intrigued, and slid onto the seat next to Bill.

"Seventy five. So while I get that money back, I am also twenty five richer that I started out."

"It's almost like these bets are a battle of wits," Bill noted.

"They sure are," Sookie gave Bill a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up once more. "I should get back to my shift before Sam pulls me up on it... can I get you guys more drinks?"

"Another coca cola would be nice," Alice said.

"I'm fine for now," Bill said, and Sookie nodded before walking off. He folded his arms and gave Alice an odd look.

"What?"

"You're thinking about Eric."

"How could you tell?"

"I've noticed this tell-tale look on your face when the subject gets onto him."

"I set another bet with him, but not with money..." she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was almost beginning to regret agreeing to the kiss. Yes, she had kissed him on the cheek a couple of times before, but that was more in a friendly gesture, nothing heated like he was essentially asking for. Alice just hoped she would win out this one, and get a week away from him.

"What more could he possibly want from you?"

Alice was silent as she fished her mobile phone from her bag. She scrolled through a few texts before handing it to Bill, who read the text and tried his hardest not to smirk, but failed.

_I want you to lose this bet, for two reasons. I want to prove I can always win. I also very much would like a kiss from my Little Red Cat. -EN_

"Little Red Cat?" Bill was trying so hard not to laugh for Alice's benefit.

"Keep looking through them," Alice looked down at her lap, not wanting to meet Bill's gaze.

_Little Coral -EN_

_Crimson Cat -EN_

_Fire Cracker -EN_

_Tiny Flower -EN_

"Wow..." Bill passed the phone back to Alice who put it away. At this moment, Sookie came back with the coca cola and Alice briefly looked up at Sookie as she thanked the woman. Her cheeks were turning pink.

"I haven't replied to any of them and he's going to give me hell for it tonight."

"I can imagine. Now... he wants to kiss you?"

"If I win I get a week off."

"I suppose it works out pretty good for you either way then," Bill drained the last of the TruBlood from the bottle while Alice digested his words.

"Bill Compton!" Alice reached across the table and flicked him in the forehead.

"Alice!" he frowned, touching the spot which had been flicked.

"You asked for it," she shrugged.

* * *

It was three in the morning, and Alice was unable to sleep, due to the fact that she was starting to become used to Eric's nightly visits around this time, she just naturally woke up at that time now. For once he wasn't actually knocking on her door. Alice went downstairs to get a glass of water and found an interesting sight in her kitchen.

Eric was leaning against one of the counters, with a fresh haircut and wearing a particularly tight black tank top.

"You got a hair cut."

"You kept on pestering me about it," he put his legs up on the table and smirked. Alice walked over to him and looked up at his new hair, admiration crossing her face.

"I like it. I like it a lot."

"Well, I'm glad you do," in one swift motion, Eric was leaning down with his lips pressed against Alice's, his hands snaking around her waist. Startled, Alice wasn't sure what was going on, but eventually melted into him, reaching her hands up and around the vampire's neck. Eric began moving forwards and lifted Alice up onto the kitchen table where she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She started to tug up Eric's top when he broke away from her and the unmistakable click of his fangs coming down could be heard. As he was about to kiss her again, quite possibly the most annoying thing happened.

She woke up.

It was coming up to the middle of the day, and Alice got out of bed, trying to forget about her dream.

* * *

**The ending of this chapter was a bit evil, making that lovely moment with Eric all just a dream, hehe. Ahh well, you have to wait for a bit for it _not_ to be a dream. Next chapter sees the start of season 2, which should be fun!**

**And... because I'm getting close to 100 reviews on this, I've decided that whoever is my 100th reviewer, gets a one-shot of whatever they want, but bare in mind I don't do full on smut. I'll happily do anything Doctor Who, True Blood (hey you could even ask for Eric/Alice), Sherlock, Harry Potter, Torchwood and Big Bang Theory related, since those are my _main_ fandoms. Anything else might be a little trickier. So... if you're my 100th reviewer, I'll message you and you can have a piece of writing dedicated to you. :3**

**Leave a comment?**

**Livvy x**


	16. Drinks

**Hello again everyone! So many of you have favourited and alerted this, I am absolutely speechless - thank you! I promised you lot the start of season 2, so you can have it.**

* * *

"You should marry Bill," Sam said a little violently, just as Alice walked into Merlotte's. "Hell, I'll even throw you party. Won't even break the bank since all you need is a couple of kegs of TruBlood seeing as how they don't even eat or drink."

Sookie, Arlene, Tara, Terry and Alice were all silent.

"Bet there's even a vampire band and vampire wedding decorators. Put Arlene's party to shame!"

Evidently annoyed, Sookie grabbed a jug and walked off to one of the tables she was serving. Alice made her way up to the bar, while behind it Tara spoke to Sam.

"You know you're about as subtle as a flying brick?" the darker skinned woman then began to speak a little more cheerily. "Maryann says that if you want something, you don't wait for it to come to you, you _demand_ it-"

"Don't quote Maryann to me," Sam said and began to clear a few things up.

"Well excuse me for giving a damn... hey Alice, what can I get you?"

"Nothing for the moment..." Alice sat down and leaned towards Tara, whispering. "He's really put out by something today."

"Yep. Probably to do with-"

"You heard from your cousin by any chance?" Sam then asked Tara. "I'm about to give away his job."

"Nuh huh," Tara shrugged.

"Hang on, didn't he say he went somewhere once and ended up go-go dancing for ages?" Alice thought out loud, remembering one of her few chats she had with the fry cook.

"It was for eight months in Palm Beach," Tara chuckled.

"Well that's fantastic..." Sam murmured and stormed off. Alice raised her eyebrows as he did so, then could have started laughing.

"Wow... really, really bitter."

"It's all because some law got passed in Vermont about vampires being able to marry humans," Tara explained. "And probably some other stuff he doesn't want to tell anybody."

"Oh right... yeah, he's a bit of an... enigma?" Alice said, a little unsure. "Like, do you even know where he was born? Has he even got any family?"

"Nobody knows," Tara put a bottle of a beer on the counter and took the cap off. "Here."

"Umm... thanks?" Alice looked at the bottle.

"You said yesterday that you weren't off out to Shreveport later on."

"And...?"

"I wanna see you get drunk. Actually, I'm not the only one," Tara gave a mischievous grin. "A couple of other regulars do too."

"Can I ask why? Wait, is it because I'm the little English woman?"

"Something like that."

"I don't drink often."

"Even better."

"I also drink slowly."

"I can get a person to drink quick."

"I'm as stubborn as fuck," Alice picked up the bottle.

"I know."

"You've been talking with Sookie haven't you?"

"She told me a lot about you."

"Well, at least I don't have to give you a proper introduction to my life then," Alice took a swig from the bottle.

"Can I ask you something?" Tara leaned on the bar, looking curious.

"Sure, go ahead."

"What do you do in Shreveport every night?"

Alice was silent before answering. At least Sookie had the decency to not say anything about her job, just that she goes off into the main town every night. Sometimes, news travelled fast in a small town like Bon Temps, and Sookie was a waitress with telepathy, meaning that she would know the inhabitants' secrets, most of which she would keep, some of which she would have to tell. She couldn't read Alice's mind, but she could still tell people other things that Alice had told her.

It had been annoying at first, but then Alice had gotten used to it. She lived in Shreveport, next to seemingly dull and dreary Bon Temps, where generally nothing of interest happened. Of course Sookie would say something to her friends about the newcomer. Alice felt a lot better about the fact she was pretty much more integrated among everyone else now.

"I work for a vampire," she said slowly. "He pays well. The only reason I do it is because I had an unfortunate run in with him... and then other stuff happened and I ended up owing him. He keeps me as safe as I can be, which is always a bonus."

"What do you have to do?" Tara raised an eyebrow, now drying a glass.

"That's another story for another time, unfortunately," Alice drained a little bit more of the beer. She looked at her watch. It was four in the afternoon. She might as well just stay here for as long as possible.

"All right then."

The rest of the day passed with Alice doing the usual – sitting and talking with Tara and Sookie, whenever they got a chance to have a small rest. There was a point where she considered talking to Sam, but he was evidently still in a foul mood, so Alice left him to it.

Merlotte's gradually began to fill up in the late evening, bringing with it the daily drunks that would always come in, at the same time every day, and leave at the same time. Alice was just thankful that Tara managed to save her from dealing with Jane Bodehouse who had come and sat next to her. Jane could get a little creepy when drunk, and what didn't help was that she was quite a bit older than Alice, and would try to dress like a twenty year old.

Alice casually moved up two seats and then Tara passed her a glass of vodka and lime – the fourth drink Alice had had that day.

"Really?"

"After seeing you so uncomfortable, you need it," Tara then walked down the other end and tended to another person. Sookie came over again at this time.

"You're still here?"

"Well I'm not exactly doing anything tonight, and you're working the late shift," Alice shrugged. She pushed the glass of alcohol towards Sookie. "Here, you have this."

"Why?"

"Andy Bellefleur just walked through the door," Alice gestured with her head. Sookie looked in that direction.

"He's been coming here and drinking until we close for the past few weeks."

"Which is exactly why I'm giving you my drink. The stereotypical form of courage that you need when dealing with him," Alice lowered her voice as the detective came and sat on a stool not too far from her.

"Sounds good to me," Sookie picked up the glass and drained it, and Alice's phone started ringing. She looked a little shifty because of what her ringtone was, and Sookie wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Is that-"

"Yes."

"Are you going to answer it?"

"That's a good idea, before people notice..." Alice fished her phone from her bag, and wondered why Bill was calling her. "What's going on?"

"_Did you know that Eric was going to give Jessica back to me?"_ Bill said, perfectly calm from down the other end of the line.

"Yes. He mentioned it the other night."

"_Why didn't you tell me?!"_

"Well, I didn't think he was actually going to go through with it..."

"_Can you come over?"_

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but _okay,_ I will," Alice hung up.

"Who was that?"

"Doesn't matter – I really need to go. Have a good night as best as you can," Alice left some money on the bar, and as she walked out of Merlotte's, called for a cab. It came by in about ten minutes and she was at Bill's soon after.

Bill had obviously heard the car approaching, because he opened the door as soon as she got out. Alice ran up the steps and into the dilapidated house, following the vampire into the living room. Sure enough, there was Jessica, lounging on the sofa with her feet up on the coffee table.

"Feet off the table and sit up straight," Alice said fiercely, folding her arms. Jessica obeyed her, and Alice turned to Bill, a smug look on her face.

"That's not fair, she knows you better than I do!"

"Who's fault is that?" she replied in a sing song voice, and Bill glared at her. "Right, sorry, but have you told Sookie yet?"

"Who's Sookie?" asked Jessica. "I've heard you guys talk about her, but who is?"

"His girlfriend who can read minds, that's all you need to know."

"No, I have not told Sookie," Bill said.

"Because you were hoping that Eric would keep her forever, yes?"

Bill was silent for a moment, then looked down at his feet.

"Yes..."

"Shame on you, Bill Compton."

"That's a very Sookie thing to say."

"I realised that as soon as the words left my mouth. Now... I want to go home to my warm bed at some point soon, so we're going to do this quite quickly," Alice dug her house keys out of her bag. "Using your ever useful vampire speed, go to my house and into my room, it's the only one with the door open. In my wardrobe there should be a white every day dress and bring it back here for Jessica because really... if she's going to be living with you for the rest of her long life, she cannot wear _that_," she gestured to the quite revealing clothing that Pam had obviously picked out.

"Hey! I _like_ this!" Jessica cried out indignantly.

"You're not in Fangtasia any more," Bill pointed out as he took the keys from Alice, and Jessica growled.

"Also Bill, don't look around my house. I'm trusting you on that," Alice warned.

"I'm not Eric," he then said, and was gone in an instant.

"That bitch has snooping around my house when I sleep," Alice murmured to herself, coming to that conclusion. "Next time I see him, he's uninvited..."

"Um, do you always talk to yourself?" Jessica raised an eyebrow and stood up.

"No. But while we're talking woman to vampire, I'm glad you've managed to get used to how I... smell."

"I bet you are," Jessica then did a creepy little giggle, so Alice cautiously took a couple of steps away from her.

"Yeah... right, I think maybe you should go hop in the shower. If Bill has a working shower. I'm sure he does, but then again, I've only been here once before just to talk to him. Anyway, you might find one upstairs, I dunno," Alice drifted over to the couch and sat down as Jessica started making her way up the stairs.

She found it odd how she had actually come to help Bill, when really he should be able to deal with Jessica by himself, since he was... well, Alice might not know how old Bill actually was, but he was pretty old fashioned, and Sookie said that Bill had a thing about petticoats. Alice decided to assume he was from the eighteenth or nineteenth century, so he had been around long enough. He should be able to handle one teenage girl, because he could handle Sookie.

Alice started chuckling at that comparison she made between Jessica and Sookie, however it was a fair enough comparison because they could both be quite erratic.

"What are you laughing at?" Bill's voice made Alice jump.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something... also, does Eric really snoop around my house?" she raised an eyebrow.

"He has done once, I know that much," Bill replied, chucking the keys to Alice who put them away.

"I think I might slap him."

"Sounds good to me," Bill smiled, something which was quite rare. "Where's Jessica?"

"I'm assuming in the shower, since I told her you'd probably have one."

"I'll leave this outside the bathroom," he said, holding up the dress and taking it up stairs.

"I still can't believe I trusted you in my house," Alice said when he came back down.

"Is this because of Eric?"

"Yes. Then again, you do give off a more gentleman-like vibe, so I guess it's a good thing that I trust you. _Can_ I trust you?"

"Of course you can," Bill nodded. "We are friends."

"Well... good," Alice smiled. Bill approached the window and looked out of it.

"Sookie's here... something's wrong. I could feel it on my way back here..." he started to make his way towards the front door.

"Fuck. Bill! Bill- Jessica is here! And _I'm_ here."

"You didn't tell Sookie that you were coming here?"

"No! Because then I would've had to explain why I was going and she would have been pissed off at the both of us, but she still is any way, so..." Alice had got off the sofa by then, looking uneasy.

Alice made sure she was out of sight when Bill opened the door, and she was pretty certain that Sookie had flung herself into Bill's arms. As she listened, Alice couldn't help but pull a face of disgust when Sookie said about a woman being found in Andy Bellefleur's car with her _heart_ missing. Poor Sookie, having to see that. Alice was glad Bill called when he did.

Oh and now there were sounds of kissing. Lovely. Just what Alice needed to hear. _What if they started having sex right there and now?_ She thought, then shuddered inwardly.

"Well hi there!" came Jessica's Southern twang from the top of the stairs. The kissing sounds stopped immediately and Alice froze. "You must be Sookie. Oh, Bill- I _love_ your shower."

"And that is my cue to go," Alice stepped out from behind the living room wall, looking up at Jessica who was still in the towel. "Oh for the love of all that is good and true, put on the dress because you're _not_ helping your situation any more if you're going to stand there in a towel talking about the shower!" Alice shouted up at Jessica, then she turned to face Bill and Sookie. "Have a nice night."

"Alice! What is going on?!" Sookie said in an annoyed voice as Alice had the door half open.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you, but Bill is!" she then looked at the aforementioned vampire. "This is your problem now... I'm going to slowly make my way home and you two can sort out the obviously oncoming storm- no... no... sorry, that's _Doctor Who_. The oncoming lover's tiff, is what I meant," Alice said as she slowly backed out of the house, closing the front door as she did so.

She paused for a moment, and when she heard no shouting, started to make her way merrily down the parish road, thinking that she could walk for a little bit before calling a cab to take her home. Alice shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, wondering if Sookie would take the whole situation with Jessica well, but realised she probably wouldn't, considering how Jessica decided to introduce herself.

Alice skipped a couple of steps down the edge of the empty road, and walked in silence, trees on either side of her giving the place an eerie atmosphere. She was completely alone, until she heard a car coming up from behind her. She glanced back over her shoulder and noticed that the car was slowing down as it approached her, and it was a convertible since it had no roof. Inside was a pretty woman with long black hair and a smile on her face, and a bald man who was driving. The car came to a speed that matched how fast Alice was walking, and she started to get a little suspicious.

"Hello..." she said, a slight frown crossing her face. "Can I help you?"

"No," said the woman. She didn't have a Southern accent, something which made Alice even more suspicious and wary, especially if the woman didn't need help. She wasn't from around here. "We were just on our way home, and I thought you looked awfully lonely, walking out here at night. It can be quite dangerous at night you know..."

Alice wasn't sure if it was a trick of the limited light, but she could have sworn she saw the woman go fuzzy around the edges. It made her head hurt when that happened.

"Yeah, I do know."

"Would you like dropping off somewhere?" the smile had faded a little from the woman's face.

"Two things: one, I don't know your name. Two, how can I be sure you just won't abduct me some place."

The woman laughed and it was a gorgeous laugh, Alice thought.

"My name is Maryann Forrester, and I only want to ensure you get home safely. Karl, stop the car," she said to the man, who did as she said. "What's your name, darling?"

"I'm Alice."

"Where do you live?"

"Do you think you can drop me off near Fangtasia?" Alice said after some thought. "I need to speak with someone there."

"Of course! Hop in."

With only a hint of hesitation, Alice opened the door and got into the back of the car. As they drove off, she was only half-listening as Maryann remarked on how she was English and wondered if Alice had been in America for long. Small talk that Alice only vaguely responded to. With every passing minute they came nearer to Shreveport, Alice began to feel more and more uncomfortable. The fuzzing came back around Maryann again after she had gotten out of the car, but it was there for longer.

"Thank you, Maryann," Alice said, wincing a little.

"Any time. I'll see you around," Maryann gave Alice a knowing look before Karl turned the car around and began to drive off.

Alice rubbed her forehead. It was worse than the feeling she got when Sookie ever tried to read her mind. She watched as the car disappeared and noticed how blurry the outline of Maryann was getting, before it all suddenly stopped, but it _hurt. _Not as bad as having a vision, yet it was enough to bring her to pavement in weariness. She then felt someone sit next to her and heard a familiar voice.

"You're in pain."

"It's not bad, Eric, but yes. I am."

* * *

**It's okay, I mentally scolded myself for allowing Alice to get into a car with Maryann... who promptly tried to possess her, but it didn't work, like how glamouring doesn't and the same with Sookie's telepathy. She's quite *cough* sensitive *cough* to _some_ supernatural things, mainly of the mind.**

**Anyway, leave me a comment? :3**

**Livvy x**


	17. Lafayette

**Hey everyone! I'm getting to a point in my life which will be entirely filled with exams... which sucks a bit, but I shall try and update as often as I can! I hope you enjoy this next chapter... it is quite humorous towards the end, I think, and there'll be a couple of changes in the next chapter which you may like a lot.**

* * *

"So what is it?"

"Oh I don't know, Eric," Alice began, turning to face him. Her mouth then dropped open and she had to restrain from laughing at him. "Why do you have foils in your hair?"

"Pam wants to cut it," he grumbled.

"That's great! I'm glad you're getting it cut, your hair is so... the year nine hundred and thirty... Viking."

"I actually grew it out in recent years."

"Really?"

"Yes..." Eric frowned. "Don't you remem- ahh. Never mind."

"What were you about to say?" Alice looked suspicious.

"It was something I was informed of yesterday – it was something I had forgotten. Don't worry. Anyway, you were going to tell me something?"

"I might as well start from the beginning... Bill called to let me know you had left Jessica with him, so I gave him a bit of a push in the... well not the _right_ direction but _a_ direction regarding looking after a- well, I can't say child, but you know – someone younger than you. Then Sookie showed up because they found someone in the Merlotte's car park with their _heart_ torn out. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"No, this is news to me."

"If I find out you're lying I will... huh, there's not much I can do, because then it would just grow back..."

"What would grow back?" Eric smirked. "And I assure you I am not lying."

"I'm not saying it... anyway, so she got a little bit hacked off that Bill and I had withheld this information about Jessica from her, so I left because really it's not supposed to be any of my business. I decided to take a bit of a walk before actually thinking of getting a cab, when Maryann pulled up, saying that I shouldn't be out on my own, blah blah blah and she gave me a lift here. The weird thing about her was that she got... blurry."

"Blurry?"

"Yes. Blurry. Like around the edges. It made my head sting a bit. You know, it felt like when Sookie sometimes tries to read my mind, except a bit more painful. When Sookie tries to get inside my head it's like an itch, but this was more like... clawing, I guess."

"You're quite... ahh, sensitive to some supernatural things," Eric noted.

"You don't say... so do you know what Maryann might have been? She didn't seem to pleased I was resistant to whatever she was doing."

"I think I might know,"Eric said after some time.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No. It's not important."

"Okay then," Alice folded her arms. "And I have a bone to pick with you, mister."

"Oh?"

"Don't fucking snoop around my house ever again, otherwise I will set up a trip wire, and you will trip into silver."

"Bill told you?" Eric chuckled.

"Perhaps," Alice said with a slight smile. She then stood up. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow night, Viking."

"Good night my Little Coral," Eric said as he too stood up, watching Alice walk off. He headed back inside, hearing the human laugh to herself at what he called her.

When Alice got back home, she immediately went up to her bedroom and flopped onto the bed, confused thoughts swimming through her head. Had Eric been about to say _don't you remember i_n reference to his long hair? Why would she have to remember though? She hadn't met Eric before in her life, not until a little more than a couple of months ago at least.

Maybe she should sleep it off and then wake up, hopefully forgetting about it.

Alice got changed into some shorts and a t-shirt then snuggled down into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. For once in a long while, Alice didn't dream, however it would have been more reassuring for her if she had dreamt about something, anything. Why it would have been reassuring, she had no idea, but maybe it was to do with her encounter with Maryann.

At some point before dawn, Alice got up out of bed. She pulled back the curtains a little and looked out of her bedroom window and onto the street. Someone was watching her, she was sure of it. There were few street lamps, and they were all on, but she didn't want to turn on her bedroom light because it would make it harder to see _out _of her window, and easier for someone to see _in_ and they would know she was suspicious.

Alice saw something move among the shadows, and then there was a knock on her door. She dropped the curtain in fright and waited for a few moments before going downstairs. She went to the living room and peered out the window there. There was no one on the front porch, so she walked to the door and opened it. One the ground there was a folded up piece of paper. Alice picked it up and shut the door, locking it.

She unfolded the note and read it, having a good feeling that she knew who had been watching her.

_What are you?_

She didn't know. She probably would know in time, but for now, she wasn't going to know and nor was anybody else. Except for perhaps the mystery vampire Eric had spoken about a few times before, the one he had said knew more information.

Alice tore up the note and went to throw it in the bin, when she felt a headache coming on. As she turned on the kitchen light, it got a lot worse very quickly, and then she had a vision along with it.

"Oww," she groaned, now taking a glass from the cupboard to fill it up with water and take a headache tablet. She and Eric had said they needed to sort out this slight issue with her being in pain on days things were actually to happen, and Alice often wondered whether it was to hinder her so she couldn't change certain things. At this current time, Alice thought that was ridiculous, so she popped the pill and drank the water, going to sit in the living room.

There was a temptation to call Eric but then she thought that trying to figure this out herself would be better. Besides, she was going to give him an earful later on, regarding anything that happened tonight. When her head began to really pound again, Alice pushed the vision back and then took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Somehow just trying to stay calm was... working...?

If she had known that's all it took, then she would be fine! Until she found it didn't last too long, and Alice wondered what she could possibly do to try to ease the pain in her head. Keeping calm was a start, except it only took away a small amount of the pain, and it wouldn't keep it at bay forever.

Alice continued taking deep breaths in order to keep calm, and then her thoughts drifted to the Viking vampire that had most likely had his hair finished getting cut by Pam, and despite knowing what Eric was going to do later on, she couldn't wait to see him. She had a serious amount of admiration for Eric's golden locks, even though she wanted to see them considerably shorter. Alice supposed she also very much liked the colour of his hair too. Golden, sandy, yellow... any sort of way to describe how blonde it was, she thought.

"Oh that's weird..." Alice noted. There was only a minuscule amount of throbbing in her head now, and she wasn't getting any flashy images either. It seemed like thinking about Eric was her vice, but why on earth would it be that?

She only had some form of... like and care for him, and at least they were civil with each other. A little playful with the teasing, yes, but it was simply _playful_. Alice assumed that it was possibly because Eric was a surprisingly fun being to be around, even if he could be temperamental at times. That bit wasn't fun, but at least he was generally in a good mood when Alice went down to Fangtasia at night.

It was four in the morning now, and she felt no need to sleep. Not that she would be able to sleep now, because she was never calm in her sleep. Alice smiled to herself, thinking it was somewhat ironic she needed to keep calm to keep away the visions, since she had to stay as calm as she could most of the time so that she could avoid panicking. Well that would probably change a fair amount in the future, especially if she was going to spend time around Eric.

Eventually she began to drift in and out of sleep, lying on the sofa. That was certainly odd, since Alice was never usually one to drift between two states.

In the morning, she felt groggy, but the vision came on less, and she took that as a good thing. After doing the usual morning routine, Alice's phone bleeped with a text message from Sookie. The waitress had a day off and wanted to spend it with her friend, so Alice invited her over for lunch. She wondered if there was anything ulterior motive to do with Sookie's visit, and she thought that perhaps there was, considering she basically ran out of Bill's house the previous night.

Sookie arrived about an hour later, and as soon as they were sitting at the kitchen table, Alice cut right to it.

"You're wondering about last night, yes?"

"I- um, well..." Sookie looked a little guilty, and Alice smiled.

"It really wasn't my place to say. I shouldn't have known about Jessica either, but then because I sort of walked into Eric's office when Bill was there with her, I sort of got roped in and it seems that sometimes she can't decide whether to listen to me, Bill or Pam," Alice shrugged. "Jessica's annoying but can be good. You honestly don't need to worry, and I really hope you let Bill explain the circumstances _properly_."

"Of course I did!" Sookie frowned.

"Are you sure? Because he was forced to turn her, and to do that he had would have had to drain her... and then rest in the ground with her in a non-weird, creepy way. And I think there's some in between stage regarding his blood, but I don't know what that is."

"Well- I er... I got a little angry and walked out. He didn't say anything about it not being creepy so um..."

"Oh, Sookie..." Alice chuckled a little. "Either way, I'm very sorry I didn't tell you. Not that I could have done anyway, otherwise I'd have three, possibly four angry vampires on me."

"Four?"

"Bill, Eric, Jessica and possibly Pam," Alice considered. "Although Pam's a bit too lazy and I think she likes me as in _really_ likes me. It's quite fun, actually."

Sookie made a face.

"Pam's flirting just makes me feel uncomfortable, to be honest."

"Apparently so does talking about it."

The two women laughed, having cleared the air, and Alice set about making lunch for the pair of them. As they ate, they began to talk about nothing important in particular, just exchanging a few more details about their lives before they had met and become friends. Then the subject eventually got back to Bill again.

"You know, I found out a few other things Bill hadn't mentioned to me."

"Like what?"

"He murdered my uncle."

"Why would he do that?!" Alice asked, shocked.

"Reasons," Sookie shifted uneasily in her chair.

"Your uncle wasn't a nice man, was he?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Is that also another reason why you walked out on Bill?"

"Yes."

"Understandable," Alice nodded. "I think when the sun sets, you two should really talk it out. Properly."

"That's what I was planning to do," Sookie took a sip of the tea that Alice had made for her. "Mind coming with me?"

"Um... sure, why not?" Alice chuckled nervously, and Sookie looked suspicious.

"What is it?"

"Two things, and I'll put them in order of priority. Number one is about the vision I had of Eric. He's gonna attack La- the person tonight. Number two is to do with the fact that last night when you and Bill were making out in the hallway, I was _really_ worried you two were going to start having sex. At least, that's the way it was going until Jessica spoke up."

"Wait, Eric's going to attack the guy tonight?!"

"Yes, but there may be not much I can do to convince him otherwise."

"Do you know who the guy is?"

"Yes..."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No because you'll get mad," Alice looked disgruntled, and rubbed her forehead, the faintest image of Eric, Pam and Chow (which she had learned was Longshadow's replacement) attacking Lafayette. "Well, no matter when you find out, you'll get mad either way."

"True... also you've known for a couple of months."

Alice was silent for a moment.

"Yeah, there's always that..."

"And what was that about, thinking Bill and I would have sex?!" Sookie's voice was a mix of annoyance and amusement.

"It was going to get there eventually, if Jessica hadn't interrupted..." Alice muttered. Sookie shook her head and started laughing.

"Wow, you must've have been a little bit freaked out last night."

"A small bit, but thank goodness for the timely arrival of a baby vamp," Alice smiled.

"I mean, you say that you felt weird about the making out thing, but... you do have that deal with Eric."

"Let's _not_ talk about that..."

"Come on, Alice, Bill said to me you've had the dreams-"

"Little Southern fucker-"

"Hey!"

"Well, I was hoping he wouldn't say anything, so don't you dare say anything to him about me calling him that!"

"Seriously, Alice, have you ever considered that in _real life_ you've wanted to kiss Eric?"

Alice hesitated in answering Sookie, as she had kissed Eric on the cheek a couple of times, but was merely a way of saying 'thanks for being sweet for once.' She decided to lie about that, and knew that Sookie couldn't actually get inside her head properly anyway.

"No. I haven't," she said, confidently. "There have been a couple of times where I've wanted to punch or kick him, but that's about it," she smiled. Sookie nodded, satisfied.

"Okay then. And since we've got about an hour until sunset, shall we start making our way to Bon Temps?"

"Sure. Let me just get my jacket."

* * *

When the sun had set, Sookie and Alice made their way from the waitress' house, across the cemetery and to Bill's. Before one of them even had a chance to knock, Bill opened the door, having sensed they were there. Jessica was just coming out from under the stairs, and after a quick hello, the two red heads made their way upstairs and into the bathroom to give Bill and Sookie some privacy.

"This bathroom is fancier than my bedroom..." Alice commented as she leaned against the sink. Jessica grinned.

"I know right? The shower's even better!"

"You mentioned that last time," Alice chuckled, then winced in pain, and she gently touched her forehead. "Oh, I need to do something..." she got her phone out of her jacket pocket and called Eric. After several rings, he picked up.

"_You woke me up."_

"Like I care?"

"_Someone's not amused today..."_ he replied, laughing a bit.

"If you hurt Lafayette I will hurt you. I'll... I'll pour silver nitrate on you or something!"

"_Ahh, yes, I need to have a little talk with our friend Lafayette."_

"If and when I find out you do anything, you are _dead meat_, Eric Northman."

"_Hardly_."

"I mean it!"

"_Of course you do. Don't bother coming later_," he then hung up, and Alice growled as she put her phone away.

"Everything okay?" Jessica asked, frowning.

"You know that vision thing I have?"

"Yeah..."

"Well it's to do with that. In one of them I saw Eric, Pam and Chow quite horribly drink blood from a human who I'm friends with, and I don't know if I can stop them from doing that... I mean, I shouldn't be here, but Eric just told me not to come tonight, so the best I could do was... talk to him... sternly... through the phone," Alice sighed.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You never know, your words could have gotten through to him," Jessica offered. "I mean, when you leave he doesn't stop talking about you-"

"What?!"

"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have said anything..."

"No, carry on. I can use this to blackmail him back."

"Well he finds you real interesting," Jessica continued. "He kinda gushes over you at points as well, and then he just sorta stops talking and then says how much he hates you."

"Oh this is _perfect_," Alice grinned mischievously.

"I wouldn't blackmail him if I were you..."

"I know why I shouldn't blackmail him, but since he's done that to me, I'll do it to him. He forgets that two people can play the same game... idiot..." she shook her head. "Speaking of idiots, I'm an idiot!" she then exclaimed.

"Why?" Jessica asked.

"I forgot to get the one hundred dollars Bill owes me."

"Oh right... he told me about that."

"I might go get it now, actually," Alice opened the bathroom door, about to go downstairs and see if Bill and Sookie had resolved things, when she saw them wrapped up with each other, making their way towards a bedroom. Alice slammed the bathroom door shut, and pressed her back against it, eyes wide.

"What?"

"We should go downstairs."

"Why should we go downstairs?"

"You don't want to know."

Alice could pretty much see the cogs working away in Jessica's brain.

"Oh god – ew!"

Alice threw open the door as fast as she could and the pair of them ran downstairs into the living room, where thankfully they couldn't hear anything.

"You know, I still don't understand why Sookie brought me here tonight..."

"I don't think I do either."

"At least we have each other for company."

"Don't you want to go back home now?"

"Oh please, I'm not paying for a cab. Sookie's taking me home."

"She and Bill are probably... well..."

"Going to be a while?" Alice suggested.

"Yeah..."

"Well then poor you. You have the ears of a vampire and you live here."

* * *

**Their worst fears came true... Bill and Sookie having a bit of... um, fun, while there are other people within the same building. Yeah... Anyway, I hope you guys liked this, and thanks for getting me to 100 reviews! And 18,000+ hits, 60+ favourites and 130+ alerts - wow!**

**Also, you know I said I'd do a one-shot for my 100th reviewer? Well it's up! It's called "Drunk Dialled" and it's an Eric/Alice which is quite funny and flirty, so go check it out if you want.**

**Remember to leave me a comment?**

**Livvy x**


	18. Jessica

**This was a bit later than I wanted it to be - sorry! Exams started today as well (wonderful) so yeah, updates are going to probably be meeeeeggggaaa slow. I hope you like this chapter... hehe, I had fun with the end of it.**

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"To Jessica's house."

"Why are you bringing me?"

"We wanted to."

"Bill's going to be really angry when he finds out…"

"We're not going to say anything to Bill," Sookie countered. "Besides, we're only going to sit outside the house."

"You say that, but can Jessica promise that?"

"She promised to stay in the car and not go inside."

Alice considered these notions for a moment, before nodding, putting on her shoes and jacket, then coming out of her house and locking the door. She followed Sookie to her car and got in the back.

"I should really be going to Fangtasia, to be honest... not that I particularly want to go tonight anyway."

"Why? I thought you were Eric were on better terms?" Sookie frowned.

"We are."

"Then what's the problem?"

"You don't want to know," Alice shifted uneasily.

"Is it something bad?"

"I hope not..." Alice muttered quietly enough so Sookie didn't hear, but Jessica obviously could. The baby vampire turned to Alice and gave her a confused look. So it seemed that Jessica didn't know what was going on... interesting. Alice had assumed Eric had taken Lafayette before giving Jessica back to Bill. Obviously not.

Alice saw the look Sookie was giving her in the rear view mirror, so she just smiled at the waitress, hoping that she would drop the subject. Sookie only raised an eyebrow but said nothing more on the matter, which Alice was relieved about. They drove on, with Jessica giving Sookie the directions to her house, and Alice stayed silent.

Then her phone started ringing.

"You have really got to change your ring tone," Sookie chuckled.

"Oh yeah. I know," Alice took her phone out of her pocket, and saw that it was Eric calling. She rolled her eyes as she answered.

"_Where are you?"_ Eric growled.

"Good evening to you too."

"_Alice where the fuck are you?"_

"I'm in a car."

"_Be more specific. I need to talk to you about something."_

"Talk to me about it now."

"_No. I- I need to talk about it with you in person."_

"Because you like me so much?" Alice teased.

"_No."_

"Oh please, everyone in the car knows how you _gush_ over me..."

"_I am going to kill Jessica..._"

"But you wouldn't because that would upset Bill, and it would also upset me and I'd never show my pretty face in your bar again," Alice had a sarcastically sweet tone in her voice. She had to resist from laughing when Eric started swearing under his breath. "I will see you later."

"_Wait, I'm not done."_

"What?"

"_Do you know where Bill is?"_

"Sookie, do you know where Bill is?" Alice repeated to her friend.

"I think he went shopping."

"Seriously?"

"For Jessica."

"Apparently Bill has gone shopping for stuff for Jessica," Alice told Eric. "Why?"

"_The matter I wish to speak to you about is the same thing I need to talk about with Bill."_

"Right. Well, you can tell me about it later. I'm going to hang up now."

"_You do that."_

"Goodbye my sweet Viking," she said in a bitter sweet voice.

"_Piss off."_

Alice smirked as she ended the call, and noticed that Sookie was giving her an odd look.

"Was that Eric on the phone?"

"Yes."

"Do you need me to turn around and drop you off at Fangtasia?"

"No," Alice laughed. "In fact he was the one to tell me to piss off just now, so it's all good. He won't miss me. Well, he might, going by what Jessica has said to me..."

"What did Jessica say?"

"Oh since she's here, I think she can tell you."

Sookie quickly glanced at Jessica, who then began to explain.

"He sorta gushes over Alice a bit," Jessica told Sookie. "Well, more like a lot, but he hates it. He would just stop talking mid sentence when he realised what he was saying."

"Personally, I think this is great," Alice said. "Mainly because I can hold it over him."

"There's probably other things he would rather have you hold over him," Sookie smirked.

"Sookie. No. I already get that with him."

"There you have it then."

"I'm not going to do anything inappropriate with Eric!"

"That is reassuring to hear..."

"Sookie," Alice groaned.

"I'm just kidding!"

"You better be."

About half an hour later they came to a typically quiet, suburban street, and Sookie slowed down as she drove through it, the three of them looking at each of the cute little houses as they drove on by.

"This is it," said Jessica after a while, and Sookie pulled to a stop. "Across the street... my daddy won't be home yet, but my mama and sister should be there."

"Jessica..." Sookie said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you crying?" Jessica turned to face the waitress, and Alice sat forward a little.

"Because I did this to you," Sookie sniffed.

"No, Sookie- it wasn't-"

"If Bill hadn't..." Sookie cut across Alice. "I took your life away and I know there's no way you'll ever be able to forgive me. It's not even right to ask... but I had no idea it was going to lead to this," she confessed to the young vampire, who was silent.

"It wasn't just Sookie's fault... I was there too," Alice said, frowning. "If one of us instead of Bill had killed Longshadow then you could still be in there with your family, Jessica. I am _so_ sorry."

"I don't blame either of you," Jessica replied. She looked as if she was about to say something else, when she suddenly looked round to see the silhouette of a girl in her house. "There's my sister."

She was then gone from the car.

"Jessica!" Sookie cried out, and Alice gave the waitress a stern look.

"I knew this was a bad idea from the start... well done!"

"Oh don't blame this one on me!" Sookie snapped at Alice as she scrambled to get out of the car, the red head following in her wake. They both ran up to Jessica who was frantically knocking on the front door.

"I saved your fucking life-"

"Don't keep pulling that crap on me!"

"I do what I want- Jessica! Jessica get back in the car, you promised!" Alice and Sookie dragged the vampire away from the door, just as it was opened. A thin, older woman stood shocked for a moment, staring at her daughter, before coming out to see her.

"Jessica..."

"Mama!"

The two of them embraced, and Jessica looked helplessly at Sookie.

"Don't. Cry," Sookie hissed at her, as her mother pulled away.

"What happens if vamps cry?" Alice whispered.

"They cry blood..."

"Oh shit."

"Exactly."

A little girl who looked like a younger version of Jessica appeared in the door way.

"Oh hey Eden," said Jessica.

"Where were you?" asked her sister.

"It doesn't matter!" said their mother. "Just- just call your father and tell him Jessica's home," she faced her daughter again, and Alice and Sookie looked at each other uneasily.

"Err... err, mama? I'd like to introduce you to my... my friends," Jessica started and then pointed at Sookie. "This is Sookie, and Alice."

"Hello girls," Mrs Hamby grinned at the two of them. "Thank you... thank you so much for bringing her back," she hugged each of them in turn, and they had no idea how to break it to the poor woman that Jessica couldn't come back home.

"You're welcome," Sookie said.

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Jessica asked.

"What?!" Sookie and Alice outburst at the same time. "No... no, we can't stay," Sookie added.

"Honey your arm is like ice!" Mrs Hamby cried as she held onto Jessica. "Come on in and I'll make you some tea..." she ushered her helpless daughter inside, bringing Sookie and Alice with them.

Mrs Hamby had the three of them settled in the living room, and then she went off into the kitchen to go and make the aforementioned tea. Jessica was sitting in between Alice and Sookie on the sofa, looking a little more than guilty.

"You know, I don't normally cuss but you've completely _fucked_ us here," Sookie said through gritted teeth.

"I know and I'm sorry, but I _swear_ it wasn't like it was even me doing it," Jessica replied. "It must those new _vampire impulse _control issues..."

"Fuck your impulse control issues," Sookie snapped back.

"While we're all being a _tad_ selfish here," Alice began, shifting uncomfortably and scratching the back of her head. "Um, I think Eric is going to kill me when he finds out about this. Then Bill is going to kill all three of us, now that I think about it."

Before anyone could say anything else, Eden came walking in with a plate of food.

"Here's some sandwiches, mum's still making tea," she said as she put the plate on the coffee table.

"Aw, thanks Eden!" Jessica smiled, as did the other two while they muttered their thanks.

"Eden, you've already had your dinner so don't touch those sandwiches!" they heard Mrs Hamby call from the kitchen. Eden started at Sookie for quite some time.

"You're pretty," she then said.

"Why that's awful nice of you," Sookie responded. "And you're very pretty yourself."

"No," Eden shook her head, sighing. "I'm not, I've got a problem with hair."

The sound of the front door could be heard opening, and the four of them turned to see Mr Hamby come in a little loudly. He slammed the door, and Jessica stood up, looking slightly worried. He then approached her and took her into his arms, stroking her hair. The moment was sweet, and Mrs Hamby came in from the kitchen to watch with a smile on her face.

"How could you do this?" he said after letting go of Jessica.

"Daddy-"

"Do you have _any_ idea of what you put your mother through?!" his voice was getting louder every time he spoke. Sookie and Alice got up off of the sofa, slowly stepping away.

"Why, Jessica? You tell me why-"

"Mr Hamby-" Sookie started.

"You tell me why, otherwise _I will make you tell me-_"

That was enough for Jessica, and she angrily pushed him into the door frame.

"Go ahead, daddy, get your belt," her voice had become stern, and there was a dangerous look in her eyes. Her fangs then clicked down, causing Mr Hamby to go a little pale. "But this time, I'll be ready for you."

"Jessica, you need to stop... just put your fangs away and we can go," Alice tried to reason, but unsuccessfully.

"You know we can't just _go_, Alice. I know you're scared right now," Jessica turned and glared at Alice, who instantly grabbed Sookie's arm. She was scared, but not of Jessica, but because of the fact she didn't know what was going to happen next. She didn't know if anyone was going to be killed.

"How could you let some bloodsucker bite you like that?" Mr Hamby said.

"Mr Hamby-"

"I didn't let anybody do anything to me," Jessica cut across Sookie again. "But oh am I glad he did. 'Cause now I get to home school _you _in what it's like to be scared," she was then right in front of her father, about to bite him when Sookie ran up.

"Alice is right, Jessica just stop!"

"Jesus Christ, Sookie, would you just shut the fuck up?!" Jessica shoved Sookie into the piano, and Alice went to help her up.

"Baby, please," Mrs Hamby was close to tears. "This isn't you."

"You don't know the first thing about me! You're too dumb to know anything!"

"For god sake, Jessica!" Alice shouted.

"Oh, what? She is dumb! She's dumber than a sackful of hammers and he's as mean as a snake. And that's the way it's always gonna be around here..." she looked at Eden, who had started to cry. "So I am ending it. Right here. Right now," she turned to her father. "And I am doing it with your belt."

Jessica launched herself at her father, and was about to take his belt, but then decided to push him against the far wall, and hold him there. She began to make quite animal-like noises.

"Daddy?" Eden squeaked.

"It's okay baby," Mr Hamby replied, never taking his eyes off of Jessica, who took of his belt using her supernatural speed, and had it loose around his neck, and she slowly began to tighten it until it was close enough to strangle him.

"Jessica, while it's good you want to stand up to your father, this is not the right way to go about it," Alice said as calmly as she could, while approaching them.

"Don't worry, this will only hurt for a minute," Jessica said, ignoring Alice. She was about to bite, when the front door was smashed open, and a very angry Bill was seen. Jessica stopped what she was doing, looking fearful.

"Bill!" Sookie called out.

"Jessica, let him go!" Bill shouted.

"But-"

"As your maker, I _command you!_"

Jessica immediately let go of her father, confused as to why she was doing so.

"Thank god you're here," said Sookie.

"Shut up!" Bill snapped at her. "Now, someone who lives here must invite me in."

Mr Hamby began to protest, claiming that Bill would kill them all, and Sookie and Alice tried to tell him that Bill wasn't that sort of vampire. Then Alice noticed Bill had caught sight of Eden, and was now glamouring her to invite him in.

"Bill, she is just a _child_!" Alice screamed and started heading towards him, but he wasn't listening to her. He was too busy trying get in, and when Eden uttered the words "won't you please come in, sir?" he was upon Jessica, pushing her away from her father.

"Bill, I'm sorry!" Sookie said. Alice tried to prise Bill off of Sookie, because it looked as if he was hurting her, even if it wasn't intentionally. Again, he ignored her.

"Get the hell out of here!" he grabbed her roughly and pretty much shoved her towards the front door. "Now, so I can clean up your mess!"

"Bill, please don't kill them!"

"This is _your_ fault! Now get the HELL out of here!" he drove her out of the front door, and rounded on Alice. "Don't even get me started on _you_."

Tears brimmed Alice's eyes and she took a step back from Bill.

"I didn't do anythi-"

"And that is EXACTLY why I am pissed off with you!" Bill took her by the shoulders and hauled her out of the house. "You could have stopped this but you-"

"Jessica _promised_ to stay in the car, and we tried to-"

"Why did you even bother coming here in the first place?! Why not convince Sookie to _not_ bring Jessica here?"

"I'm sorry, Bill," Alice sobbed, as she backed away from Bill towards the car.

"You'll be even more sorry when I tell Eric."

"You wouldn't-"

"Try me," the look in Bill's eyes was deadly. "Now get the _fuck_ out of here as well."

Alice turned and ran back to the car, jumping in the back and wiping the tears off of her face, trying to avoid looking Sookie in the eye. She took a few deep breaths to keep calm, and Sookie was muttering under her breath, quite possibly scolding herself. Soon, Bill came back with a heavily crying Jessica, and thrust her into the back with Alice, who put an arm around the poor vampire.

"Get in the passenger seat," Bill told Sookie fiercely, and she did as her said. When he got into the driver's seat, he set the car off at an alarmingly fast speed to get back to Bon Temps. The speed seemed to be increasing with every passing minute, proving how royally pissed off the older vampire was.

"Bill, slow down please," Sookie begged him. "Stop it, you're scaring me!"

Alice let go of Jessica momentarily and looked through the gap between the two front seats, her eyes widening at the number she saw on the speedometer.

"Fucking hell, _pull over, please,_" she said. "Pull over and maybe we can talk about this."

"Fine!"

Bill carried on driving for a little longer, and then suddenly swerved onto the side of the road. Everyone was silent, apart from the sobs coming from Jessica in the back.

"I'm sorry," Sookie said. "She promised she was just gonna look in the window-"

"I know. Alice told me."

"I know I made a mistake, but they're her family!"

"She is a _vampire!_ She has no family!"

"Grr I'm a monster and I'm gonna be alone forever because of _you!_ I hate you so fucking much!" Jessica shouted at Bill.

"Be. Quiet."

"Eat shit!"

"I said be quiet!"

Jessica slumped back into the seat and stopped talking. Alice went to pat her comfortingly on the arm, but saw her hand beginning to shake and pulled it back in.

"You undermined my authority as her maker," Bill told Sookie in a dangerously low voice. "the both of you!" his eyes flickered to Alice. "You risked those people's safety and your own! If I had not glamoured them within an inch of their sanity, all of our lives would have been shattered!"

"I _know._ I'm sorry!" Sookie repeated.

"You keep saying-"

"Bill let me out of the car," Alice said.

"Shut up-"

"Bill Compton let me _out_ of this fucking car right now," she said loudly, but shakily.

"Why?"

"I don't need to this from you!"

"Fine then," he went and let Alice out of the car, who started walking as fast as she could away from it. She didn't care how far away Bon Temps was, she could just walk there, as long as she didn't have to listen to Bill any more. It was more of Sookie's fault, not hers, and she didn't want to here them carry on arguing about who was sorry and who wasn't.

She could still hear their shouting, even after going off of the road. Why had she come tonight? Why didn't she just stay at home and then go to Fangtasia like normal? Now Bill was beyond angry with her and Sookie, was going to tell Eric about what happened... and there was a chance she'd probably have a panic attack. Not fun.

Alice could hear Sookie calling out to her after a while, and she turned around to retrace her steps a little, until she saw the blonde waitress.

"You too?"

"I'm so done with tonight," Sookie replied. "I want to forget it ever happened."

"Me too."

They carried on walking in silence together, when they heard a twig snap. They looked around, getting the feeling that they were being watched from the trees.

"That wasn't you, was it?" Alice asked.

"No..."

"If it was Bill, he would have announced himself, or be calling out for us."

"Unless he's trying to scare us into getting back in the car with him?"

"I don't think so," Alice held up her finger to motion for Sookie to be silent. There was a faint guttural noise coming from the trees. "Vampire don't make noises _quite_ like that, do they?"

The pair of them stopped walking, hearing something shuffle out onto the dirt road behind them. Alice dared to peek over her shoulder, and didn't like what she saw. When Sookie was about to look, Alice stopped her.

"Don't," she whispered. "Sookie, run... now!"

They ran as fast as they could, trying to get away from the inhuman creature that was following them at a quicker pace. Sookie, however, was better at running than Alice was, and was a good few metres ahead of her. She looked behind her and saw that the creature was almost on her friend.

"Alice, move!"

Before Alice could even react to Sookie's words, she felt a searing pain down her back, and she fell to the ground. She couldn't feel her legs, and she could barely move her arms everything was beginning to hurt so much. She managed to look up and see a the strange thing, human in body but with the head of a bull.

Her vision was going blurry, and she was shaking all over, but at least it ran off, and at least Sookie was now by her side.

* * *

**As you can see, I love my character so very very much... also I like it when Bill is being a bitch to everyone. I should try and include moments like that more often that aren't in the show. Anyway, review?**

**Livvy x**


	19. Scratches

**Help me I'm stuck in exams... enjoy this though! Next week I have too many exams in one week to count, so you won't get anything for a few more weeks after this, sorry!**

* * *

"BILL!" Sookie screamed at the top of her lungs. She knelt down next to Alice, not sure what she could do. She was afraid for her friend, afraid she might be permanently damaged. Sookie reached to take Alice's trembling hand, but the red head jerked away and started to hyperventilate. "Oh god..."

Alice was lying on her front and shaking badly, but Sookie wasn't certain if it was from the three gaping, bloody scratches on her back or due to the shock of it all. She came to the conclusion it was a mix of both, although possibly the latter even more so.

"It'll be okay," she said to Alice, lamely. "Bill's gonna come, I know it."

"Eric," Alice spluttered.

"What happened?" Bill was there now, with Jessica. "I could sense your fear and heard your scream," he noticed Alice on the ground, and he moved Sookie away from her, before dropping next to the wounded woman. As soon as the scent of Alice's blood properly hit Bill, his fangs clicked down.

"There was a bull thing... Part human, part bull – I don't know! But it got her," Sookie was worried.

"Alice, calm down," Bill said gently, and he carefully took her on his lap, holding her precariously. Sookie came and crouched next to Bill.

"What do we do?"

Before Bill could answer, Alice tried wriggling out of his grip and away from Sookie, but he managed to keep hold of her.

"Sookie is your friend, Alice!"

"What the hell?" the waitress looked confused.

"She-"

"I can't move," Alice said in a strained voice, her breaths under a little more control.

"Bill give her your blood!" said Sookie, and he lifted his wrist, biting into it and then bringing it down to Alice's mouth. As soon as the first drop of blood touched her tongue, she convulsed very violently, and started coughing up a white foam. Bill turned to Jessica, still holding onto Alice.

"Get the car – now!"

A minute later, Jessica was back with the car, and Bill got into the back clutching Alice, and Sookie was in the passenger seat again.

As Bill ordered Jessica to drive to Fangtasia, all Alice could was try to hold onto Bill with at least one hand, but it was too difficult. Her eyesight was going in and out of focus, and she could vaguely hear Sookie freaking out over what could happen. She wanted to say something, but didn't have the strength or voice to say it properly. It was like her body was beginning to shut down, but keep itself from doing so at the same time.

"B... Bill," she gasped. "Hurts."

"You'll be fine," he tried to reassure her, and everyone else in the car.

Alice thought it was a nice try to do so, but she wasn't entirely sure if she cared about that or not. Her back was in complete agony and now all she could feel was it burning. It intensified with every passing second and she was completely sure she was going to die in the back of Sookie's car, with Bill murmuring random things to her so she would stay conscious.

Everything was swimming in and out of focus still, but she could not miss Bill barking at Jessica to go back home after they pulled to a stopped. The cool night air was some form of relief on her as they came out of the car, and she could feel Bill walking towards the night club, but then he stopped short.

"What happened to her?" Eric growled angrily.

"There was an argument. She left the car, so did I and... she was attacked," Sookie explained quickly.

"Give her to me."

Alice cried out as Bill passed her into Eric's arms, and during the time her eyesight was fairly normal, she looked up at the blonde vampire and gave him a giddy smile, and started to giggle deliriously as he carried her inside.

"You're pretty," she managed to say.

"Maybe compliment my hair afterwards," Eric couldn't help but smirk at her. "Pam, call Dr Ludwig!" he called out to his progeny.

"W-what?"

"She's a good doctor," he told Alice, as he laid her down on her front on one of the long leather seats.

Alice wearily nodded, and her eyelids started drooping. When that started happening, Sookie really freaked out, worrying that she was going to die right there, but Eric told her that Alice still had a pulse. She registered that he was holding her hand, and then someone gently lifted her head, placing something soft underneath it. This same person started stroking her hair, and she soon realised it was Sookie. Alice struggled to keep her eyes open, but she didn't want to lose touch with the world just yet.

Eric let go of her hand, and made a noise of annoyance, but then she felt him taking off her ripped up jacket and dropping it on the floor. Then Sookie's hand left her hand, and Eric moved her hair over one shoulder, out of the way of her wound. She then cried as he carefully ran his hand down her back. No matter how light the touch was, it killed.

"Eric, leave her alone!" Bill shouted, and then the older vampire stood up and moved away from Alice, weirdly enough.

"No," she whimpered pathetically. "Eric..."

"Don't touch her," Bill warned.

"She wants me over there."

"I don't care."

"Er... Eric..." Alice painfully coughed up more white foam, before falling unconsciously entirely.

* * *

Alice screamed and flailed as she woke up. Someone was pouring something along the scratches on her back, and it felt like they were pouring acid on it.

"Hold her down!" said an unfamiliar female voice, which she assumed to be the doctor. Strong, cold hands pinned down her shoulders, and all Alice could do was let the tears fall, as she writhed quite uncomfortably on the seat. The doctor stopped pouring whatever it was on her back, then dug her finger in one of the scratches, running along the length of it.

"Stop, please!" Alice shrieked.

"It's almost over..." came Eric's voice. "It is almost over, yes?"

"Almost, yes," the doctor said. Her finger left Alice's back as she pulled something out of it. "You can let go of her now. I just need to clean her back."

Eric's hands left Alice's shoulders, and he came and sat down on the floor in front of her. Alice smiled weakly at him.

"Hand," she said, bringing hers up slowly towards him. He then took Alice's small hand in both of his large ones, holding onto it quite tightly as the human winced while the doctor cleaned the blood off of her back. "Sookie?"

"She and Bill are waiting in my office."

"Okay..."

"You should be able to give her blood now," said Dr Ludwig, now packing up her things. "Her body should accept it and it'll heal up fine. I expect payment by the end of the week," she made her way towards the exit of Fangtasia.

"Pleasure doing business," Eric called over his shoulder.

"Fuck off!"

Eric chuckled at her response and then she was gone. He turned back to Alice, who despite everything, had the most amused look in her green eyes, he almost gave her a genuine smile. Instead, his fangs came down quickly and he bit into his wrist, and helped her raise her head so she could drink from him. They both knew the treatment had worked, for when Alice drank, she didn't cough up anything and she didn't convulse, like Bill had mentioned to him earlier. She gave a small moan of delight when drinking, and tried to keep hold of his wrist with her mouth, but Eric pulled away.

"Can't overcook you," he said, glee dancing through his eyes, and she giggled at that, then her face became serious as she realised something.

"Where are my clothes?"

"We had to get rid of your shirt, bra and jacket because they were bloody, ripped and Dr Ludwig wouldn't have been able to treat you."

"I still have my shorts and underpants on?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"You should sleep," Eric looked at her back, and the wound was starting to heal up, slowly but surely.

"Yeah..." Alice shifted a little uncomfortably, not enjoying being able to feel her skin practically knitting itself back together. "Give me a shirt first."

"Alright then..." Eric wandered off to the little kiosk at the back of Fangtasia, grabbed one of the deep red shirts and brought it back over for Alice. It surprised Alice that when he helped her sit up and put on the shirt, he didn't look at her breasts. So he did have some shred of decency that had never presented itself before now...

After she had the shirt on and was about to lie back down, Sookie and Bill came back into the bar, relieved to see Alice was looking better.

"Thank god you're okay!" said Sookie.

"I'm really tired though," Alice replied as she lay back down.

"Well I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

"She'd be with me," Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I'd quite like to stick with my friend through the _day,_ thank you."

"I'm not leaving Sookie here with you," Bill told Eric, who rolled his eyes and sighed.

"There's a spare coffin in the back. It was Longshadow's, however he used to feed before resting so it'll be a little messy, but you're welcome to it."

"Can you all shut up...?" Alice murmured before her eyelids drooped closed and she fell asleep in next to no time.

* * *

When Alice regained consciousness for the second time, the first thing she noticed was the loud, angry voice of Sookie. As she opened her eyes, she noticed Sookie was dangerously close to Eric and seemed like she was on the verge of slapping him.

Since they weren't too far from where she was lying, Alice ran up to Sookie and grabbed her wrist just before it could make contact with Eric's face. Sookie scowled at Alice who raised her eyebrows back, and then she let go of the waitress.

"It seems you're feeling better," Eric purred, looking down at Alice. "I forgot to mention how surprisingly well you look in red," his eyes flickered to her very ginger hair. Alice sighed.

"Oh god you have become annoying again, now that I'm healed."

"I have to say, how the _hell_ did you not wake up earlier?!" Sookie asked Alice.

"When I sleep, I can really sleep... why?"

"I kind of had Ginger at gun point because did you know that Lafayette is in the basement?"

Alice's eyes flickered between Bill and Eric as she took a few steps back from Sookie.

"Umm... d-did Bill know?" Alice asked Eric uneasily. He simply grinned at her. "No? Okay... um, Sookie..."

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Yes.

"And you were _okay_ with that?!" Sookie started towards Alice, but Bill held the waitress back.

"Of course I wasn't okay with it!"

"Did you know that they tortured him, and _bit him _and shot him and kept him in his own filth for weeks_?_"

"In my vision they were about to bite him and he looked pretty messed up, so the biting thing could have gone either- wait... did you say they bit him?" Alice added slowly, and Sookie nodded.

Alice turned to look at Eric and made her way up to him before punching him square on the nose. He barely even staggered back, but he clutched at his nose while Alice rubbed her knuckles, which now hurt quite a lot.

"Is all of this true?" Bill asked, after Eric regained his composure.

"There are others who would have done far worse and you know it," he then glared at Alice, who stared daggers right back at him.

"You're gonna let him go, right now, or I swear I'm going to the police-" Sookie said, and that seemed like the tipping point for Eric, as he then hissed and angrily bared his fangs at her. Sookie gasped and stepped back in shock.

"I do not respond well to threats... but perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement. You too, Carter," he added, glancing at Alice.

"You actually bit him," Alice stated.

"Yes."

"I thought you weren't going to. I honestly thought that- never mind..." she stopped herself before she would say something that she might possibly regret later.

"Thought what? That there is good inside me?" Eric sneered at her.

"After the fact you saved my life _yes_, I did. Is that so bad?"

"How about you two discuss whatever scandalous love affair you have going later?" Sookie said, folding her arms.

"Bitch, I will hit you," Alice prodded Sookie on the forehead quite hard, and Bill came in front of his human, glowering at Alice.

"Please, let's go to my office," Eric gestured towards the hallway coming off of the main bar, and they all followed him there, Alice glaring at Eric's back and Bill with his arm protectively around Sookie. When they were all inside, Alice immediately sat in one of the chairs, and spoke before Eric could even start.

"Has this got anything to do with why you were looking for Bill and wanting to talk to me?"

"Yes. It has," he leaned back against the desk next to her. "A vampire in the Dallas area named Godric has gone missing. He is the Sheriff of Area Nine, so it's important we help to get him back. I need Alice and Sookie to come with me to look for him."

"Wait, I get why Sookie would need to come with you – since she's the telepath and all – but why would I need to come?" Alice frowned.

"Hmm, well, your ability to see the future can come in handy with things like this," Eric gave her a cocky smile. "You can help me guarantee that we will be able to find him."

"I could just do that right here, right now and not save myself the trouble of going... then again, I don't even know Godric so how would I be able to see his future?"

Eric blankly stared at her for a moment.

"You know, I'll just give it a minute or two," Eric faced Sookie and Bill. "Before you say anything, I'm not exactly asking either of you to come with me. I am telling you. I was courteous in asking Bill regarding Sookie earlier, however Alice is inclined to do what I say. I'll pay all the expenses of course."

"If I go-"

"Sookie, no!" Bill cut across the blonde.

"Bill, I can make up my own mind. If I go... then you'll let Lafayette go. And Bill has to come with me."

"Yes, I will release your friend," said Eric. "But Bill need not come."

"Then I won't help you."

"I'd like to point out that two vampires are better than one," Alice said.

"Just because you're buddies with Bill-"

"Exactly. That way if I get annoyed with you and Sookie is... somewhere... I'll have someone to talk to."

"You're _very_ selfish..."

"Can we hold with the pair of you, please?" Sookie told them. "I also want five thousand dollars."

"Sookie!" Bill took the telepath by the arm, and she turned to him, speaking a little quieter.

"I've missed a lot of work and I need a driveway..."

"Your human is getting cocky..." Eric rolled his eyes, and Alice smirked. He was going to end up saying yes to whatever Sookie asked for, she could tell.

"She will take ten thousand dollars," Bill then said. "And I _will_ escort her."

"No."

"Yes," Sookie said. "Ten thousand dollars and Bill comes with us, it's a deal breaker."

"I'd like ten thousand dollars too," Alice gave him a snarky look.

"I pay you enough as it is," Eric retorted.

"Do I look like I care?"

"Selfish bitch."

"You didn't have to go that far..."

"Whatever," Eric rolled his eyes again and then spoke down the intercom in Swedish. "You know, Sookie, you surprise me. That is a rare quality in a breather."

"You disgust me."

"Perhaps I'll grow on you."

"I'd prefer cancer."

Bill and Alice glanced at each other, both of them with impressed looks on their faces.

"You three need to leave immediately," Eric broke through the silence.

"I will make the travel arrangements," replied Bill. "But I will need your _credit card number_."

At that moment, Pam loudly opened the door and threw Lafayette to the ground, and he cried out a little. Sookie rushed over to him to make sure he was somewhat okay. Pam put her hands on her hips.

"Such a shame," she sighed. "I was hoping I could convince Eric to let me keep you."

"Pam, there is a line," Alice got up. She was concerned for Lafayette, however she didn't want ot crowd him.

"And you already have enough pets," Eric said.

"No offence, but you ain't exactly my type," Lafayette said to Pam. "Bitch."

"Can I kick him?" Pam asked.

"Right now I am wishing you were flirting with someone in this room," Alice muttered as Bill said "you can try."

"Enough!" Eric raised his voice slightly. "Pam, have Chow fetch their car."

The female vampire didn't say anything but slowly sauntered off. Eric got off the desk and went to crouch next to Lafayette, so Sookie hastily moved out of the way.

"I'll see you around, I'm sure," Eric said as he ran a finger down Lafayette's bare chest.

"Oh don't bet on it baby," Lafayette replied. "I'm retiring. I'm done with you crazy ass fuckers. Done."

Eric winked and stood up, Bill picking up Lafayette and leaving, Sookie following behind. Alice was about to go with them, when Eric took hold of her wrist.

"We're not done here."

"How did I guess?" she replied sarcastically, Eric now letting go of her wrist to close the door. She waited until he had sat back down on the desk again before speaking. "You're being a real dick tonight."

"I saved your life."

"Yes, but then you did a bit of a flip. Why? Is it because Sookie annoyed you?"

"That, and the fact you deflected my compliment."

"You were being a bit creepy."

"Hmm. Anyway, I'm curious... why did you stop Sookie from slapping me, even though you punched me after?"

"I... don't worry..." there was a hint of a smile on Alice's face, and she looked down at her feet so that Eric wouldn't see. It was unfortunate for her that Eric could feel of her emotions, especially because of the fact she didn't want Sookie to hurt Eric. Not that Sookie could hurt Eric much, however. Alice had a tiny amount of care for Eric, and while she didn't want to say it, she knew that he knew about it.

"Alice... remember what I said about the vampire that I know who knew your grandmother?" he started off quietly. She looked up at him.

"Yes. You said that you might be able to contact him however because he was Sheriff of Area Nine you might not... be..." her eyes widened. "Godric? Godric knew my...?"

"He did."

"This is another reason why you want me to come, isn't it?"

"He can tell you what you are. I can also keep you practising, and everything should go smoothly."

Alice nodded.

"There really is no way I can get out of this? If it had just been the simple 'you must do everything I say' then I'd have found a way out of it."

"I don't think so."

"I might have done," Alice grinned at Eric, who chuckled.

"Maybe... come on, I'll take you home so you can get your things ready. Oh!" he got something out of the pocket of his jeans. "Your phone," he handed it to Alice, who put it in the pocket of her shorts.

"Thanks. You didn't look through it, did you?"

"No."

"Good..." she followed him out of the office. "I should probably say... thanks again for saving my life, Eric."

"I'm sure you'd do the same."

* * *

**I hope you liked this! I've been planning the AU for the Dallas story arc for aaaaagggees and I can't wait to see your reactions to it :)**

**Review?**

**Livvy x**


	20. Arrival

**Sorry it's been a while everyone! But I did have exams, and I only have two left, then I am FRREEEEEE! I was going to save this until after the exams (I'm sorry it's short, by the way) but since True Blood season 6 starts up again tonight... I felt I should update. Anyway, despite the shortness, enjoy :)**

* * *

The plane ride had been interesting to say the least. It was with an airline company that ensured all vampires were safe and secure during the flight, meaning that Bill – who had brought along Jessica, so her also – had to be kept in light tight travel coffins. Alice found it odd that vampires did in fact stick to a stereotype. Then again... The vampires themselves had probably started that legend up. Like they had also done with 'being unable to set foot in a church' - hardly true.

So Alice and Sookie sat together on the small jet plane to Dallas, Sookie taking delight in drinking from the tiny alcohol bottles. Alice only had one, thinking it was better to be sober rather than tipsy or drunk upon arrival. They had been avoiding talking about the serious topic at hand, when Sookie said something completely irrelevant anyway.

"Alice your teeth are really white. Like, incredibly white."

"What?" even though that had been very random, Alice was curious, so fished a little mirror out of her hand bag and looked at her teeth. They were very white indeed, and she was pretty sure they had never been that gleaming before either. She then caught sight of her wavy red hair. "My hair is glossier too..."

"Do you think it was the vampire blood?"

"Probably. You noticed that about yourself too? I mean, do you... Drink Bill's blood when... Y'know...?" Alice said carefully, putting her mirror back into her bag. Sookie raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yes, but also I was beat up pretty badly the first night I met Bill. He saved my life, gave me a lot of his blood and the next day I could lift the couch with one hand."

"Interesting. I'm very glad to know it's not just vivid, sexual dreams you get."

"You've had dreams about Eric?"

"Yes," Alice coughed a little awkwardly, and Sookie smirked.

"Has there been some form of tension?"

"When you say some form, do you mean-"

"Yes, I do."

"Rude."

"I didn't say it out loud."

"Fair enough, and yes, there has been some _form of tension_. There are also times where he can be completely nice to me, but then completely horrid the next minute. It's weird."

"That's Eric in a nutshell," Sookie shrugged, going back to drinking the tiny bottles of vodka, Alice giving her a side glance.

"Is there going to be a point where I will have to cut you off from that?"

"I hope not."

* * *

They had almost been abducted at the airport. By who, Sookie, Alice, Bill and Jessica weren't entirely sure, but the man (Leon) was now glamoured. They also weren't sure if he meant to take Sookie or Alice or even the both of them. Either way, Bill was going to get answers out of him, despite the fact that Jessica was having a little too much fun glamouring him.

Alice then promptly became annoyed at the hotel when finding out that she had to share a room with Eric. That had only one double bed.

"You okay, Alice?" Sookie asked, as Alice had not said anything but was smiling in such a way, it looked like she could kill.

"I'm gonna go and wait for him with a stake," she replied, still smiling, before taking the room key and walking to the elevator with her small suitcase.

When she got to the room, she found it was very lush. There was a nice sitting area with leather sofas, a TV and a mini fridge which she knew would be full of TruBlood. The bed was through an open partition, with a chest of drawers to put her clothes in. Alice could ask to change rooms if she wanted, but she knew Eric would highly disapprove, and probably give her some rant about how Dallas was dangerous and she needed to be protected.

Then a full-on argument would probably occur, and she knew there was no time to argue with Eric, especially if they were looking for a vampire that might be dead, or could be killed soon. Alice sighed, leaving her suitcase and going to sit on the bed, taking off her fingerless gloves. She looked down at her hands, wishing that she could actually _hold_ someone's hand, skin-on-skin, without having a vision. The same went with some emotions too.

Those thoughts still lingering in her mind, Alice got up and began to unpack her clothes, putting them in the chest of drawers. After she was just finishing, she heard someone come in, and she knew it was Eric. She stopped what she was doing and turned to him, as he leaned against the wall in the bedroom with his arms folded.

"You're not happy," he commented.

"Nope. For a start, the room."

"I thought that would annoy you, but-"

"I know. You want to... look after me, so to speak," she cut across him. "I'm not going to argue with you, I figured there's no point."

"Smart girl."

"Shut up."

He smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, look, if we're going to be sharing the room, there are two things. No groping of any form."

"Fine."

"And if you get hungry, no feeding up here. I did my research before coming here."

"But what if I only wanted _your_ blood?" Eric was right in front of her, running his icy finger down her cheek. Before she could even think, Alice grabbed his hand and moved it, getting a flash of something... it was the pair of them, and they were... kissing.

She dropped his hand and took a few steps back from him, putting her gloves back on. Eric stood there, eyes wide, perhaps even paler than usual.

"Third thing... don't take off your gloves," he muttered after a while.

"Might be a start. Or I could just change rooms-"

"No."

"Okay. I'll sleep on the sofa... there's no way you'd fit on it lying down."

"Sounds like a plan. I need to talk to Bill."

"You do that."

"I'll see you later," he made his way to the door and was gone, leaving Alice in shocked silence.

_Don't think about it... _she thought to herself. She also hoped that it wouldn't be brought up again until it actually happened. Then it would make a lot more sense than it did now.

A few minutes after Eric had left, someone knocked on the door, and Alice answered it to find Sookie standing there.

"Come in," Alice said, allowing Sookie inside. "So Eric whisked away Bill," she added after closing the door. She sat down on the sofa next to the waitress.

"Yep."

"Poor you."

"You don't sound sympathetic."

"Well no."

"What's wrong?"

"Ha... what would make you think anything is wrong?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"The Ghost of Christmas Future."

"What the hell happened?!" Sookie was a little worried.

"I took off my gloves, Eric came in, tried to... stroke my face, and I grabbed his hand without thinking then stuff happened and here we are."

"What sort of _stuff_?"

"Well..." Alice squirmed a little uncomfortably. "While I cannot deny how attractive Eric is, I cannot imagine myself kissing him intimately on the lips at any point in the future."

"Wow."

"You're telling me? I could somehow change that, but you know... I guess everything depends on the context," she sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Some strange context then..." Sookie murmured.

"Oh yeah. It seems like it could happen soon. Like, I think we were still here in Dallas. I think... I'm not so sure."

"You look like you could sleep on it."

"Good idea," Alice smiled wryly, and Sookie stood up, patting her friend on the shoulder and saying good night. Before she left, however, she said something else.

"You know..." Sookie smiled a little. "You could just let that kiss happen. No matter what context and whether it might be changed. You're kind of already in some weird form of love affair anyway."

With those last words, Sookie left, leaving Alice a little bit amused.

She stayed sitting on the sofa for a moment, before going to get changed into some shorts and a loose t-shirt. There wasn't a spare blanket so Alice just put on her long cardigan and wrapped it tight around herself, then put on a lamp and turning off the main lights. She lay down on the sofa, which was surprisingly comfy. She still had the gloves on, but only due to a small amount of paranoia.

She slowly drifted off to sleep, not dreaming about anything, until something – or someone – began to rouse her. Blearily, she opened her eyes to complete darkness, but felt someone carrying her. In the confused, annoyed haze of being woken up while it was still night time, Alice wriggled and tried to beat her way out of the person's grip, eventually whacking them in the face. They dropped her on the floor, and suddenly the room was filled with light. Eric was sort of sneering at her, also quite befuddled.

"What the hell?!" he cried.

"Sorry!" she squeaked, standing up and rubbing her thigh. "And _ow!_ What were you doing?!"

"Moving you to the bed, _obviously_!"

"I told you I would sleep on the sofa. There's no way you'd fit on it!"

"I can sleep on the floor."

Alice snorted.

"Yeah right, like _you_ would sleep on the floor. But you know what? Since you want me to sleep in the bed so much, I will!"

"And since _you_ want _me_ to sleep in the bed so much, I will too," Eric mimicked, taking off his leather jacket and getting into the bed the same time as Alice. They both lay there, staring up at the ceiling angrily.

"You're really irritating," Alice spat.

"Just as you are selfish," he retorted.

"I should just book myself a room with _your_ credit card."

"Well you're not going to."

"Yeah, yeah, Dallas is a dangerous place," she rolled her eyes.

"You've never been here before, and you're not even that accustomed to violence. The vampires here are animals."

"So I have to stay under your watch?"

"Yes. You do."

"Fun," Alice rolled over so she was facing away from him. "I want to sleep now, so go turn off the light, _sweetie_."

"No. You do it."

"I'm not going to do a back and forth with you Eric, so do me a courtesy because I'm a tired human and go _turn off the fucking light._"

"I have a silver piece of jewellery somewhere in my bag."

"You-"

"Oh I would. If it gets you to shut up and do tiny things."

"Whatever," since he used his vampire speed, Eric had turned off the light and was back in bed before she could say anything else.

"You know..." she started again after a while. "I was talking with Sookie before you got back, and she was right."

"What was the telepath right about?"

"That we're in some weird form of love affair," she chuckled slightly, and although she couldn't see it, Eric smiled in the darkness.

* * *

**There are times where I write Eric and Alice like an old married couple... and I enjoy it.**

**Review?**

**Livvy x**


	21. Suspicions

**Hello once again! My exams ended on the 21st June, but I had a very busy week last week, so I didn't get around to writing much more of this chapter until today. Also, some exciting things are happening/have happened:**

**1) Exams have ended, which I just said.  
2) Stephen Moyer knows of my existence. There was a True Blood Q&A with him on the 18th June and I submitted about 30 questions, 3 of which were on the True Blood HBO picks and then he answered one of those! *squees*  
3) My birthday on Tuesday awww yeah  
4) University trip on Tuesday :D**

**Anyway, on with the chapter! I have to say... the end bit wrote itself..**

* * *

"There's something we need to talk about," came Eric's voice from the bedroom.

"Well good evening to you too..." Alice put down her book and turned on the sofa, leaning on the back of it so that she could see Eric, who was sitting up in bed. "What is it?"

"Did Sookie tell you that the man who was sent to take either one of you was from the Fellowship of the Sun?"

"That is something she failed to mention."

"Well it was to get the both of you, although why they sent one man to get the two of you truly astounds me. It's just _very_ lucky that Bill glamoured him into forgetting that you ever arrived."

"I'm curious as to whether you knew something like this might happen," Alice swivelled round and returned to reading her book.

"I had my suspicions," Eric shrugged, now getting dressed.

"Thanks for sharing them," she called over he shoulder. He was by her in an instant, taking the book from her hands. "Oi!"

"_Let the Right One In_," he laughed, giving it back to her. "How ironic."

"Shut up, it's good, but very disturbing."

"And also originally Swedish," he began to make his way over to the door.

"I realised that within the first page of reading it," she put it down once more, following Eric to the door. "I knew we were going to somewhere, but where?"

"To meet the vampires who work under Godric. Their names are Stan and Isabel. I'll warn you now that you will not like Stan, and he will not like you," he held the door open for Alice, and she stepped out into the corridor, Eric locking the door behind them. They began to make their way towards the elevator. "I'm going to repeat what I told Bill last night: the vampires here in Texas are cowboys. If Godric is not found, they will want justice, which means they will kill humans."

"That's really reassuring," she mumbled sarcastically. Eric pushed the button to bring up the elevator, and he leaned against the wall, folding his arms.

"Isn't it just? And while we're on the topic of nasty cowboy vampires, you're not going to say a _word_ about your power, is that clear?"

"Why?" Alice raised an eyebrow as the elevator arrived and they stepped into it, pressing the button that would take them to the lobby.

"Vampires crave power, and if they were able to get hold of someone who could see the future, then who knows what they might do? They could keep you and use you."

"Like you're using me right now?" she smirked.

"I'm not using you," Eric rolled his eyes. "I've been helping you, and now I'm going to attempt to keep you safe."

"Attempt being the operative word here?" Alice chuckled. "At least you can say what the hell you need my company for."

"Yes..." Eric tilted his head to the side slightly. "If you look at it that way... but in all seriousness, will you say anything?"

"No. I won't. Nasty cowboy vampires, remember?" she winked at him and he gave a rare grin.

The elevator dinged and doors opened so they stepped out into the lobby, making their way out of the hotel itself. As they came onto the street, Eric grabbed hold of Alice's wrist so she stopped walking.

"What?"

"We're not going to wait for Bill and Sookie. They know how to get there."

"So... how are _we_ getting there?" a suspicious look crossed Alice's face. "Because they're already on their way there."

"They are?"

"I was waiting for you to get up, lazy bones."

"For that comment, I'm not even going to say how we're getting there," Eric pretty much scooped up Alice into his arms. "Hold on, dear."

"Why- oh!" Alice barely registered what was happening as Eric flew up into the air, and she looped her arms around his shoulders tightly, pressing her face into his chest not wanting to look down. "I fucking hate you," her voice was muffled, and could just about Eric laugh as they sped through the air. "No seriously, I do hate you for this."

They carried on travelling in silence, and eventually they came to the right place, and Eric gently lowered to the ground, and put Alice down when he landed. She stumbled away from him, flattening her hair, as he did the same.

"If you ever do that again-"

"Lazy bones my ass," he cut across her. Then he caught sight of something behind Alice, and she turned to see car headlights. Bill and Sookie. "Flying is a faster way of travelling. And you said they left before us."

"They did," she shrugged. "But not that much longer before us."

"Let's just go inside..."

* * *

Eric had most definitely been right about Stan. Alice found him too brash and very annoying, as well as blatantly rude. He was the exact definition of the cowboy vampires that Eric had been talking about. However, Isabel was much nicer, and would scold Stan for being impolite.

The house they lived in was rather modern, and they were gathered in the large living room, talking about the situation they were currently in, with Stan and Isabel informing Eric and the others of what they were worried about, and Eric telling them whowho Sookie and Alice were.

"You should have told me that Eric hired fucking humans, Isabel," Stan grumbled.

"Excuse me?!" Alice said, shocked.

"Respect them!" Bill told him.

"Thank you," Sookie said.

"I couldn't tell you, Stan, you've been off on your own for days," Isabel said, folding her arms.

"Are you certain Godric was abducted by the Fellowship of the Sun?" Eric asked them, pacing up and down.

Stan said 'yes' at the same time Isabel said 'no.'

"They're the only ones with the organisation and man power," Stan continued on in a slightly bored tone.

"But they're _amateurs_," Isabel countered. "It doesn't make any sense! This is _Godric_ we're talking about – over two thousand years old."

"Eric failed to mention that," Alice looked over her shoulder at the aforementioned pacing vampire, and he scowled at her.

"Old don't make you smart," Stan commented.

"Besides, there's no _proof_," Isabel added, referring back to whether it was the Fellowship who took Godric or not.

"If they've got him, I'll _hear_ it," Sookie piped up. "That's my job."

"If that's your job, then what's hers," Stan pointed at Alice. "She can't be just a plain human!"

"What if _just a plain human_ was an advantage over a telepath? Believe me, it really could be. I don't have other people's thoughts inside my head."

"What's up with the gloves?"

"Skin condition," she lied smoothly. Generally, Alice was a terrible liar if given time to think about it, but when put on the spot, she would say the first feasible thing. Eric had stopped pacing now and was standing next to Alice. He sneakily tapped her thigh with his finger and she looked down, and he gave her a sly thumbs up, so she had to restrain a smile.

"Whatever..." Stan rolled his eyes. "We need to take these fanatics down, full out attack. We need to exterminate them like the vermin they are, leave no trace..."

"Hmm, vampire-hating church annihilated – who did it?" Isabel said sarcastically. "Fucking brilliant."

"I doubt the King of Texas would approve the destruction of out international political agenda," said Bill.

"Fuck that," replied Stan. "The great revelation is the biggest mistake we've ever made."

"Don't use Godric-" Isabel started, but Alice cut across her.

"I'd like to point out how you're all acting like five-year-olds," she said calmly.

"They're not just that, they're completely incompetent!" Eric raised his voice, glaring at Stan and Isabel. "What's happened to Godric that he surrounds himself with clowns?"

"We invited you as a courtesy," Isabel started towards Eric, a little angry. "This is not your territory, you have no voice here."

"Yeah Sheriff," said Stan. "Why don't your run on back down to Louisiana? We don't need you or your puppets."

"We're not bloody puppets," Alice spat.

"And I'm not going anywhere," Eric said quietly.

"What we need is a _plan_," Bill emphasised.

"I have a plan!" argued Stan.

"It's not a plan, it's a movie," said Isabel.

"It's not a movie. It's a war."

"Idiots," sneered Eric.

Isabel and Stan then began to have a back and forth about what they should, Stan being very enthusiastic about bombing the Fellowship and more or less everywhere else. Eventually, Eric flipped and threw a vase across the room, and it smashed on the opposite room, stopping the argument.

"Godric has protected you!" Eric said through gritted teeth. "Made you rich and you stand there spitting and scratching like infants!"

"Don't any of you care that there's a traitor in your midst," Bill said.

"Hmm, no," said Stan.

"Impossible," added Isabel.

"Well someone tried to kidnap me and Alice from the airport," said Sookie.

"You were the only ones that knew they were coming," Bill said.

"Explain," Eric demanded from the two other vampires.

"Must've-" Stan began, but Isabel interrupted him.

"Unless it was you-"

"Look if y'all argue any more, I'm gonna fall asleep or start screaming. So this what we're gonna do..." Sookie said.

"Infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun?" Alice guessed from the sofa which she was now sitting on, frowning a little. "I'll come with you."

"Absolutely not!" objected Bill.

"Let Sookie speak," Eric said.

"Since Bill glamoured the kidnapper no-one there knows who we are. We can pretend we want to join the church, I can check out all their thoughts and Alice can have a vision of whether we get out of there safe."

"Sookie..." Alice groaned, putting her head in her hands, and the waitress quietly cursed, forgetting that Alice hadn't said what she could do and was trying to hide it from the other vampires.

"I didn't think you were just an ordinary human," Stan smirked. "Eric you could have just said you had a cl-"

"Shut up," Eric told him. "Say one more word and you'll meet your maker."

"I'm gonna go get some air," Alice got off the sofa and made her way through the glass door, sitting on the stone patio. She rested her chin on her hands, a little annoyed that Sookie had said what Alice could do. Eric had said that vampires could use that power if they wanted to, and Alice only hoped that Stan really wouldn't want to. She'd rather just stay working for Eric. It was much simpler.

Another annoying thing is that Eric had spoken to her _after_ Sookie and Bill had left, so she couldn't tell them not to say anything about what she could do. Essentially, it was her fault that Stan and Isabel knew. Alice wasn't entirely sure if she was over-exaggerating her reaction, but she did have a right to be worried about this, especially if the vampires here really were as bad as Eric said they were.

She heard someone come outside, and she took her head out of her hands and looked over her shoulder to see Eric standing there.

"Stan won't do anything. He knows you're... ahh, off-limits, so to speak."

"He won't say anything to anyone, will he?"

"No," Eric came and sat beside her. "Neither will Isabel. It's understandable why you can't trust them, and I don't expect you to. However, I should have thought of this yesterday, or we could have at least told Sookie not to say anything about you before we came in."

"Is this your way of saying that you're sorry for being rubbish at planning?" Alice smiled a little.

"In your dreams," Eric scoffed. She looked at him.

"Admit it – we've known each other for a couple of months now, and you really do have a soft spot for me, don't you?"

"Maybe a small one. A _really_ small one," he chuckled. "Like I said before, you're not bad company once you get past the annoying outer shell."

"Same for you – only you're more arrogant and needless to say, a massive dick at times," Alice grinned at him. The pair of them then looked out over the garden, silent, and then Alice leaned her head on Eric's shoulder. He glanced at her, before resting his head on top of hers, and then taking one of her gloved hands.

"Maybe one day you won't need to wear gloves to hold hands," Eric muttered quietly, then tensed up. "I didn't say that out loud. If you tell anyone..."

"I won't," Alice giggled. "You have my word there," she moved her head from his shoulder and looked at him.

They were in such close proximity, and Alice didn't know if it was because he was being nice to her in this particular moment, but she gently pressed her lips against his. He didn't pull away, but moved his lips in tandem with hers for a few moments, before they broke apart.

"This isn't the kiss I had vision of," Alice whispered.

"Then I guess we have something else to look forward to," Eric then gave Alice a quick peck, which almost turned into another kiss, but they were interrupted.

"Eric, a word please?" Bill said from the door. Eric gave Alice's hand a squeeze before hopping up and going inside. Bill gave Alice an odd look.

"The others didn't see?" she asked him.

"Only me."

"Don't say anything. I don't think Sookie would approve," Alice also hopped up and went inside, going to join Sookie and Isabel in a new conversation. Before Eric disappeared into the next room with Bill, she caught his eye and blushed.

He smirked at her.

* * *

**Teehee. Eric/Alice kiss.**

**Review?**

**Livvyx**


	22. Conversations

**Woops, this is almost a week late! Anyway, thanks for all your wonderful comments and birthday wishes (I had a fab time on the trip), and I apologise for this being up later than I expected. I had another busy week (at a friend's house for a birthday sleepover and I went to a theme park) but hopefully chapters should be more on time as of now. There are some scenes that I've written in advance, so there's a chance you might get two updates in a week.**

**Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

They were both silent on the way back to the hotel, and did not communicate for quite some time even after they had entered their room again. Alice went back to reading her book and Eric was on the phone to Pam, speaking in Swedish, so that the human did not know what they were talking about. Although she vaguely picked up swear words, but that was only down to the fact she had been curious and looked them up, having heard Eric use them before.

After Eric had finished speaking with his progeny, there was still a while until dawn, when something popped into Alice's head. Eric and Bill had had a very hushed conversation while she had to sit and listen to Sookie and Isabel talk about human/vampire relationships. She had even been asked if she and Eric were in one, to which Alice had said 'no' to pretty quickly. It had been awkward and embarrassing, so she had to explain to them she wouldn't even consider an _actual_ relationship with Eric, of all people... vampires.

"How's your book?" Eric suddenly said, and Alice got such a fright that she dropped it, but before it reached the floor he was there in front of her, holding it. She took it from him and marked her page with a bookmark before placing it on the coffee table.

"Good. I'd barely started it, but Håkan disgusts me," Alice made a face.

"That is the reaction of everybody," Eric sat down next to her, looking at her intently. Alice felt her cheeks turned pink under his gaze. "You want to ask me something?"

"How could you tell?" Alice replied sarcastically, and Eric gave her a half smile. "Well... you had a conversation with Bill earlier, and I heard you mention Godric. All I want to know is who he is to you, because..." she sighed. "I came into this blindly, only doing it for myself just so I can get answers from some vampire you know. Clearly he's not just that. So, who is Godric to you?"

"He... he's my maker," Eric finally answered after a few minutes. Alice nodded.

"I can see why this is so important to you."

"I don't understand _how_ he could have been abducted by a group of humans," Eric shook his head in disbelief. "He's so strong and powerful, and he could be the vampire king of anywhere he wanted. He could kill you in an instant."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather not have him kill me in an instant," Alice squirmed uncomfortably and shuffled away from Eric.

"I don't think he would."

"How would you know?"

"He has... well, he has looked out for you over the years. Your grandmother told us she knew it was you who would possess her ability to the see the future, so once a year Godric would come and check up on you. From a distance, of course. I didn't particularly care much at the time."

"But you do now..."

"Yes," Eric said after a moment. "Yes, I do."

Alice smiled a little.

"Eric..."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you give me your blood on the first night we met? And the time after that? You could have said no, like it's obvious you usually would, but you didn't."

"I was slowly beginning to realise who you were. Your grandmother – Rosalind – she asked Godric to promise to keep you safe if you ever walked into his life one day, because it was inevitable that was going to happen, since it had over the many years of us being alive. It wasn't even brought to my attention until you showed me your family tree that in fact, it all ran in the same family – seeing the future," Eric paused before continuing. "See, I didn't promise Rosalind anything, however Godric made me promise the same thing. Of course, I couldn't disobey him."

"You're extremely loyal to him," Alice commented. "So giving me your blood wasn't about having some form of control over me?"

"No," Eric shook his head. "But do you know what's strange? The fact that I didn't even realise that Rosalind was part of that long line of women who could see the future. Godric and I had this penchant of running into them, that we just thought it was coincidence. Clearly not."

"You've not been this invested in it, have you?"

"No. Neither has Godric. The most invested he became was with your grandmother. I suppose it's because they met when she was your age, and other times we had met your ancestors when they were a little older. I'm pretty sure they had some form of... fling... at the end of the Second World War. It didn't entirely work because she met a human and fell completely in love, but Godric understood that she wanted some normality in her life."

"They still kept in contact, obviously?"

"In secret. I met her once or twice. She was like you with her stubbornness, only far less with it," he smirked at Alice, and she shook her head.

"But the fact she had a short _fling_ with Godric after the war ended is quite funny. I wasn't even aware people did that in the fifties..." she chuckled, then a somewhat solemn look crossed her face.

"You'd be surprised," Eric raised his eyebrows in amusement, then quickly sobered when he saw her facial expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, you know when I came to Fangtasia that night and you had the foils in your hair?" Alice waited for Eric to acknowledge the memory before continuing. "You said that you had grown your hair out in recent years, but I wouldn't remember. Then you just cut off. What were you going to say?"

"I actually met you once. You were barely two. That's why you wouldn't remember me. It's also when she told us she it would be you. And like I just told you now, I didn't particularly care much at the time."

"I see... that's odd," Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Very odd," Eric chuckled. They both fell silent again, and Alice eventually spoke up once more.

"You said she married a human because she fell in love and it was a bit of normality for her. I'm not entirely sure how long you want me to work for you, but... I don't think I could go back to normality."

"Define what normality is to you."

"Going back to England and trying to keep the visions to a minimum," she admitted.

"You don't think you could go back, could you?"

"No..." Alice got up and started pacing. "No, I don't think I could."

"You said you were hiding from someone. What exactly happened?"

"Let's not delve into that territory. It was bad enough for me to want to get out of the country, because I'm a fucking coward and I couldn't deal with it..." she said quickly.

"You really hate this topic, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Alice murmured. "Can we not talk about this now?"

"We will one day, and you know it."

"Don't you _dare_ force me into it."

"You don't trust that I won't."

"I don't know," Alice shrugged.

"You have some issues..." Eric rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, well, I believe that you do too. As does everyone," Alice shook her head. "Can I just ask _why_ you are telling me all this stuff now?"

"Godric would have expected me to," he eventually said. "I wasn't planning on saying anything until later on, until you had really got everything down. It's just very annoying that Godric is at the Fellowship, and I want him out of there."

"Great. That would have ended up with there being more secrets between us," Alice sighed. "You're not very good at this talking thing, you know?"

"I don't normally talk. You're just very babbly."

"I should have guessed that was coming..." Alice murmured as there was a knock on the door, and Eric went to go and answer it. He opened it and there was a woman there, her hair pinned up and red lipstick on. She was wearing a long, flowing dress. "Lorena?"

"Why hello, Eric," she sauntered inside, taking in the place around her. She then caught sight of Alice and was in front of her in a second. "You smell delightful," a mischievous look crossed her face and Alice slowly took a step back from her, as her fangs came down.

"She's mine," Eric said gruffly, coming over to them, standing behind Lorena, who retracted her fangs.

"I don't see any bite marks," the other vampire chuckled.

"Alice prefers being bitten in _intimate_ places, don't you?" he cast the redhead a look that said _just go with it_.

"How about we don't divulge any information about our _scandalous_ affair?" Alice said, smiling a little. Lorena looked back over at Eric, and during that moment, Alice scowled at him and mouthed 'why.' As soon as Lorena turned back to her, she quickly smiled again and Eric smirked.

"What brings you to Dallas, Lorena?" he asked, after a moment of silence. The female vampire went and lounged on the sofa.

"I heard you were here with my Bill."

"Have I missed something here?" Alice asked, looking between the two of them.

"Lorena is Bill's maker. I met her once or twice over the years," Eric shrugged, going to sit in the armchair.

"Right..." Alice directed her attention to Lorena. "So... you're here to see Bill?"

"Yes, I am. It's just unfortunate I heard him fucking someone," she replied.

"That would be Sookie."

"Is she human?"

"He's monogamous with her," Eric smirked.

"You can hardly talk," Lorena cast a pointed look at Alice, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Who said I was monogamous?" he replied, an eyebrow raised.

"Of course. How could I forget what you were like? Going to the whore houses back in the twenties and before then," she chuckled. "Anyway, do you mind helping me get my Bill back to me?"

"I'm too busy to be doing anything of the sort, not that I'd want to," Eric groaned.

"But you could take his human, and keep her out of the way."

"If I wanted his human, I would have taken her a long while ago," Eric rolled his eyes, and stood up, heading to the door and held it open. "It was good to see you, Lorena."

"You're kicking me out? That's not very gentleman-like."

"Who said he was a gentleman?" Alice piped up, laughing.

"If you weren't his, I would have drained you," Lorena spat back, then making a hasty exit. Eric slammed the door closed after her.

"That was a short visit," Alice remarked.

"Lorena enjoys making her presence known. She'll probably be back. If she wants to take back Bill, then that means Sookie will be in trouble," it was now Eric's turn to pace up and down the room. He would occasionally glance at Alice.

"What?"

"You were going to go to the Fellowship of the Sun tomorrow, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well now you're not."

"Sookie can't go there alone! That's even worse than letting the pair of us go together, given the track record we have of getting into trouble. Although Sookie more so than me..." Alice shook her head. "Eric, you _have_ to let me go, otherwise it was pointless of me even coming!"

"You are going to stay here, and keep an eye on Bill."

"I am not babysitting a vampire just because of his stupid maker!"

"You might prove a good distraction for Lorena from Bill. If Sookie gets into trouble – which she might – he'd be able to get there and get her out of there if it's night time and she's still there. _Then_ we send you in to look for Godric," Eric stopped pacing and stared at her.

"Terrible plan. Eric, I am not going to be used as vampire bait!"

"It might be worth it."

"Eric, no. What if I went with Sookie, but I didn't go inside? I just watched from the outside?"

"Are you suggesting that if she doesn't come out after a certain time, then you call me, I'll get Bill and we'd go there."

"Something like that, yeah..." she shrugged. "As long as I don't have to be used as vampire bait. Why did you even suggest that?!"

"Because then I'd have a moody Bill Compton on my hands," Eric did not look impressed with that prospect.

"Then you'd also have a very pissed off me on your hands," Alice said, folding her arms. "I'm _not_ going to be used as vampire bait. I refuse to. I am still going to go to the Fellowship of the Sun tomorrow, but I will not go inside. If Sookie appears to be in trouble of some form, I will let you know."

"Is she going to be in any trouble?" Eric said pointedly, and Alice sighed, closing her eyes. She focused on how she felt when around Sookie, then on Sookie herself. She managed to see something – Sookie and some guy going into the church and being shown around by Steve Newlin and his wife, Sarah. Nothing bad at all there.

Alice opened her eyes and noticed that she was lying on the sofa, feeling a little warm for her own good. She glanced at Eric, who did not look amused.

"You've not been practising, have you?"

"Well, considering the past week or so... no. I haven't. I've not had the time."

"Whatever, does Sookie get involved with anything bad?"

"No, not from what I saw," Alice sighed. "All it was, was her and some guy being shown around by Steven and Sarah Newlin."

"What guy?"

"Um, I don't know, but he was tall with dark hair. Kind of bulky, I guess..."

"Ahh. I believe that's Isabel's human – the one that she is in a relationship with," Eric nodded, going to get his jacket. "Have a nice sleep. You'll need it. I'm going to go find someone to feed from."

"Charming," Alice said, getting up off the sofa and walking to the bedroom. "I'll probably see you at some point tomorrow then."

"Yes, you will."

"Have fun drinking."

"I highly doubt it."

* * *

**So the next chapter shall see a quite botched plan being carried out... will it succeed or fail? Actually, that's pretty obvious what will happen...**

**Review?**

**Livvy x**


	23. Waiting

**I did consider making this chapter longer and we meet Godric here, but then I thought "nahh, he comes under exciting things" and exciting things are going to be in the next two chapters. Also I did say I would be updating like twice weekly because of summer holidays... enjoy!**

* * *

Something was making noise.

Alice blearily opened her eyes and noticed that her phone was ringing, playing that god damn annoying song. At least it woke her up. She tried to reach for it, but found she couldn't move her arms. She looked down and saw that Eric was lying on his front, his arm around her. That would explain why she couldn't move. Her arms were pinned to her body.

She began to wriggle one out of his grip, and answered her phone, grumbling about slightly over-protective vampires.

"Who is it?"

"_Alice, it's Sookie! Hugo and I are about to leave for the Fellowship of the Sun, aren't you coming with us?"_

"Wait, what's the time?" she yawned.

"_It's two in the afternoon,"_ Sookie sounded mildly irritated.

"Give me an hour, a vampire decided I was his teddy bear," she mumbled. "Isn't that Isabel's human – Hugo?"

"_It is. The plan is we're going to pretend we're an engaged couple looking for a church and you're my best friend – the maid of honour."_

"Sookie... I'm not coming in with you," Alice was now trying to manoeuvre her way out of Eric's grip entirely. It involved trying to shuffle upwards into a sitting position. His arm was like stone and really hard to move.

"_What do you mean, you're not-"_

"Well, I am, but I'm not going _inside_. I'll be watching the church during the day, and if anything seems a little strange, I'll call Eric," she successfully managed to get out of bed, and took out a dress and some clean underwear from one of the drawers, going towards the bathroom.

"_What about Bill?"_

"Erm, something Eric said," Alice replied, an odd look crossing her face. There's no way she'd say anything about Lorena, not now.

"_Wait, what?"_

"Never mind... just give me until three and I'll join you. You and Hugo go in his car, I'll take the one you and Bill have been using," she said quickly, hanging up and tossing her phone through the bathroom door to land on the sofa.

She showered quickly, and towel dried her hair as much as she could before putting on her leather jacket, boots and picking up her phone before going down to meet Sookie and Hugo. Hugo seemed nice enough when she met him, and he went to shake Alice's hand which was the point she realised she didn't have her gloves, so made up some excuse about being germaphobic. Since they still had some time before three o'clock, Alice quickly grabbed something to eat, and then they were on their way.

Alice drove behind Hugo and Sookie all the way to the church, and she parked very far away from them when they arrived. She watched from the car window as they were greeted by Sarah Newlin and taken inside. As the other blonde woman walked a few paces ahead from the two of them, Sookie turned around as if to search for Alice. After a moment or so, she smiled and turned back around, so Alice assumed she had seen the car.

Then came the headache. They had already met Sarah, so it was safe to assume that they would be meeting Steve pretty shortly, and then the headache would stop, then she could make sure they got out all right. Alice frowned, rubbing her forehead and trying to keep calm to repress the minuscule vision coming forward, wondering why on earth she would stay in the car for an entire afternoon.

Maybe she should just go inside and snoop around the church. Maybe even have a look at the grounds too. It seemed like a friendly place for people who despised vampires.

Alice sighed, and got out of the car, locking it and shoving the keys in her pocket. She switched her phone mode to only vibrate, in case Eric decided to call her after the sun had set, which was very likely to happen. She slowly made her way towards the church, going inside and becoming quite awed at how modern it was. Then again, it was also home of the Fellowship of the Sun, which came about when vampires had come out of the coffin.

There was a kind of scary looking man standing near the door as she came in. He was tall and bald, and he kept staring at her, so Alice tried not to pay any attention to him as she walked through the church, going into the main area with all the pews. The sun was really bright in here, and she had to cover her eyes with a hand for a moment or two, before lowering it, allowing her eyes to adjust properly.

A few people were in there, praying, by the looks of it. She silently made her way to one of the empty pews, making it look like she was doing the same thing. She wasn't religious, but genuinely prayed to... to a higher power, for the first time in her life, that everyone would get out of there safely. She then lowered her hands and sat with her head down for quite some time, listening out for Sookie and Hugo, and in case they came in there. When people started to leave, so did she.

Alice began to make her way back to the car and noticed how the sun was slowly starting to set, and she wondered if Eric was actually going to call her or not. While walking, she raised an eyebrow when she saw two men building something, that looked a lot like a platform with a cross on it. Curious, Alice moved closer and realised she recognised one of the two men building it.

"Jason? Jason Stackhouse?" she said as she approached them. The one with the lighter brown hair stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"Uhh yeah..." he then properly took in her appearance. "Oh hey Alice! What are you doing here?" he came over to her and hugged her, which struck her as a little odd, since she had only met him once, maybe twice.

"Umm, it's a long story," Alice said, pulling away from him. "Who's your friend?" she asked, gesturing at the other guy, who had come over too.

"Oh this is Luke. Luke MacDonald," Jason said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Luke," Alice gave a little wave, which he returned.

"So er, where's Sookie?"

"Around somewhere," she replied. In all fairness, that was the truth. She had no idea where Sookie could be with Hugo in the church.

"But you're both in Dallas?" Jason queried.

"Yes we are," Alice nodded. The sun had almost set by now, and she needed to get away from Jason and Luke. If Eric did call her, she didn't want them listening it. "Well, I'll see you around..." she smiled and began to walk away from them, which was when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. "Hello?" she said after answering it.

"_Is everything all right?"_ came Eric's husky voice.

"As far as I can tell, yes."

"_Have they come out yet?"_

"No, they haven't, but everything is fine."

"_How long have they been in there?"_

"Long enough. They're chatting with Steve and Sarah Newlin, I guess," Alice shrugged.

"_There was a traitor, remember?"_

"Yes. I do remember..." she then looked around. "I'm a big girl, Eric, I can- oh crap, people with guns are coming outside, I should go..." Alice hastily hung up and ran back to the car. The fact there were armed guards really surprised her. Then again, it was an anti-vampire church, so of _course_ they would have people out on guard.

She was about to get in the car and drive off, when she remembered that Sookie and Hugo were still in there. It was getting really dark now, and she was torn between leaving and getting back to the hotel, or actually see if they were all right. Eric had made her think a little. They _had_ been in there too long, and it was beginning to get worrisome. No, she shouldn't leave. She should try and get back inside the church, avoiding the armed guards.

Alice shut the car door once more and locked it, making her way back over to the church, nervous. There were a couple of guys by the main doors, but then they soon walked off. _Probably checking everywhere,_ she thought. Quietly, she managed to make her way inside.

A nearby scream jolted Alice out of her thoughts, and she flattened herself against the wall, and peered around through the open to see Steve and the bald man who had been staring at her earlier, grab Sookie and Hugo and forcefully pull them through a door, maybe down some stairs, she didn't know. Great. They had obviously been found out. She noticed how Sarah Newlin didn't do a thing, but just stood there and cried. Poor woman. She probably hadn't wanted this to happen.

Alice stood straight again, and waited. When she heard Steve and most likely the bald man approaching (there was no crying), she hurriedly moved over to the desk and hid behind it, holding her breath until she was sure they were gone.

Being cautious as she stood up, Alice ran to the hall and moved down the isle between the pews, hearing Sarah Newlin still crying, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. Alice looked up and behind her to see her on the upper rows, but she hadn't spotted the red head.

Alice ducked down one of the pews to the side where Sookie and Hugo had been, trying to remember which one of the doors they had been taken down. She tried the one closest to her, and it was unlocked. She opened it, and was greeted by a staircase leading down.

"Sookie? Hugo?" she said as quietly as possible, but not loud enough for Sarah to hear her. A worried look crossing her face, Alice tentatively began making her way down the stairs, when a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her waist and a hand was covering her mouth. She struggled against the person, trying to get out of their grip, now absolutely terrified. Was it that bald man? Had he come back?

"Take her down with the others, Gabe," said Steve Newlin, and Alice's worst fears were confirmed.

As Gabe brought her away from that door to the one next to it, Steve opened it and Alice tried to grab hold of the hand rail as she was taken down the stairs. She failed in this, and managed to kick him in the shin, which only caused him to momentarily let go of her waist and thump her in the stomach, hard. He let go of her mouth, deciding that two arms was better than one and Alice began coughing, winded from the blow.

They came into the basement, where she saw Sookie and Hugo in a metal fence cage of some form, which contained various shelves with bits and pieces on them. Steve came down and hurriedly unlocked the fence door, and Gabe shoved her inside. Alice wasn't about to give up that easily, so came back at Gabe, but he punched her once again, only this time in the ribs. She fell down to the floor, and the two men wandered off having locked her in there with her friends.

"Ow," Alice wrapped an arm around herself as she sat up. "That guy is strong."

"How did you get caught?" Sookie came and sat next to her, while Hugo just paced up and down.

"I came looking for you and Hugo, because Eric called me, asking me how long you two had been in there, and that was when I started to worry..." she mumbled, rubbing her side. "I think I might be bruising..."

"Surely Eric or Bill or Isabel would have felt our fear by now?!"

"Maybe they did, and simply thought we were being paranoid..." Alice sighed. "They're not coming for us until tomorrow. That much is obvious."

"What do we do?"

"Nothing," Alice said after some thought. "And why are you asking _me_ all the questions?"

"We were... kinda counting on you a bit," Sookie admitted sheepishly.

"That was stupid because I was counting on the vampires. Primarily Eric."

"Why primarily Eric?"

"He cares about me but won't admit it," Alice smirked, and Sookie laughed.

"That's just _mean_."

"Could be worse than just using his little amount of care for me. He could be pretending to care for me and is just using me."

"Have you considered that he might be?"

"I have, but our conversation last night reassured me otherwise," Alice said, smiling a little. "It's a long story, which I'll tell you another day."

"We should rest," Sookie nodded. "Hugo, try and get some sleep if you can. Well... not sleep, but just keep calm, and we'll get out of here tomorrow, okay?"

Hugo didn't respond, and the two women looked at each other, and shuffled to lean against the wall, quietly chatting about nothing.

* * *

**I'm looking forward to putting up the next two chapters because 1) Godric and 2) ships *coughs***

**Review?**

**Livvy x**


	24. Godric

**Woops. A day late. Sorry about that! I kind of got invested in some reading yesterday and totally forgot about this! Anyways, chapters are going to be long again, as this one might suggest. Also, have you guys been watching season 6 of True Blood? The latest episode made me cry :( And one final thing, I'll be extending the timeline out a bit, so the explosion won't happen in the next chapter, but the chapter after.**

* * *

Sleep was not something that came easily to the three prisoners that night. Sookie and Hugo managed about an hour each, whereas Alice managed a bit longer. They were all on edge, namely because they were being held captive by an anti-vampire group, as well as the fact it was just past dawn, and none of their vampire friends were coming to help now.

They were stuck there for the day, however Alice and Sookie did try picking the lock with a hair pin that Sookie had, but to no avail. Hugo began to freak out a little more because of his claustrophobia, and Alice found it increasingly painful to move. A quick peek down her dress told her that Gabe had bruised her badly when he whacked her. She just counted herself lucky that she had ingested a lot of Eric's blood only a few days prior, so healing would be a small amount faster.

Alice checked her watch when Steve and Gabe came down to talk to them. It was just gone half past nine. Steve slid a bottle of water under the cage and she caught it, but then looked at Hugo and decided he needed it more than she would. Steven then began to patronise them about the vampires, and that he had been hoping they would have come to get them. Sookie told him straight that the vampires would definitely kill him, and then Steve asked for answers in that they would get a hot breakfast. Hugo jumped up and told Steve pretty much everything, much to the annoyance of Sookie and Alice.

When Sookie told Hugo to shut up after Steve and Gabe had left, Alice snatched back the water bottle and had long drink. She sat back down on the floor and leaned against the wall, rubbing her ribs gently.

"Hugo you're a fucking idiot," she hissed at him.

"I just wanna get out of here!" he retorted, beginning to pace up and down again, heavily frustrated.

"So do we, but we're not stupid enough to say anything!"

Sookie began to pay attention to them again.

"Alice is right, Hugo, you're a fucking idiot," she rolled her eyes, and Alice chuckled slightly, then let out a tiny 'ow.'

They fell silent again after that. It seemed like it would be a bad idea to argue with each other while in such a confined space, with other each other for company. Hours passed, and Alice began to wish that she had just gotten back in the car and driven back to the hotel. Then she wouldn't be stuck in there, and maybe something could have been done during the night. Sookie finished off the water that they had and chucked the bottle to one side, sitting on a sturdy upturned plastic crate. Alice sighed, and then Hugo began to get cranky again, rattling on the metal grate.

"Hey! Hey! I need to use the bathroom!" he called out. "Hey! Come on, let me out of here!"

Sookie went and picked up the discarded bottle, going over to Hugo.

"Here," she said, holding it out to him. "I'll turn my back."

"I don't need that!" he angrily knocked it out of her hand. "I need to get the hell out of here!"

"So do we!" Alice said.

"This is _not_ helping!" Sookie told him. "Just sit down – try to relax," she grabbed his hand and tore it away from the grate and froze for a few moments.

"Sookie...?"

She gasped and dropped his hand like it was burning hot.

"You? You're the traitor?" she was shocked.

"This explains a lot," Alice raised an eyebrow. Hugo began to pace a little, before sitting in a corner, while Sookie went and sat next to Alice.

"I used to be just like you," he began. "I thought I was a real emancipated thinker. Especially when Isabel took me to bed. The sex was amazing; the best ever... well, you know... it's addictive, isn't it? To be desired by something that powerful."

"I'm no addict," Sookie defended, a little spiteful.

"And I'm not even in a relationship so this is all between you and Sookie," Alice snorted. Hugo then began to go on about how life changes when being with a vampire so much, and Sookie outright said that Hugo went to the Fellowship because he couldn't control himself. Alice thought that was appropriate, since he went on to say about how he begged Isabel to turn him, which she deemed a little pathetic. Begging. He seemed to think that vampires didn't want equality, only power – and Alice could have slapped him for implying that Bill and Eric were only interested in Sookie and because of their powers.

"Well if the Newlins care so much about you, how comes you're still in here?" Sookie said, a little smugly. "Face it Hugo – you're nothing but a fangbanging traitor to them!"

"Don't call for them. Please, just don't embarrass yourself any further than you already have," Alice shook her head, and Hugo remained quiet.

* * *

It was night time, they knew that much by checking the time. They began to get a little antsy again, when the door to the basement unlocked and Gabe came walking in.

"Gabe!" Hugo looked relieved as the bald man approached the cage. "What happened to your face? Listen, she knows everything, which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't kept me locked down here with a god damn mind reader," he continued as Gabe unlocked the metal door. He said nothing. "I hope the reverend knows I'm gonna need protection now."

As soon as Gabe came inside, he punched Hugo hard enough in the face for him to fall to the ground.

"You want some protection you fangbanging sack of shit?!" Gabe cried as he kicked Hugo. "How's that for protection, huh?" he punched him. "Here's a little more protection!"

"Stop it!" Sookie screamed, and she jumped on Gabe's back as he bent over the now unconscious Hugo, but he flipped her over his shoulder and into the shelves, holding her there by the neck.

"Get off of her!" Alice picked up some board game and smacked Gabe over the head with it, but that didn't deter him. He kicked backwards into Alice's shin and she stumbled backwards to the ground.

"You and your moron brother," Gabe started to say to Sookie, while Alice recovered. "Think you can make an asshole out of me? That's what you think, huh?"

Sookie shoved against his face with her hand, screaming for him to get off of her, when Alice grabbed Gabe around the waist and tried to pull him back away from Sookie. He let go of the waitress, distracted by the red-head, and he smashed her into the grating. Sookie was on the ground and then he was on top of her, trying to rip off her dress. Both of the women screamed, and then there was a rush of air past Alice and Gabe was lifted off of Sookie.

Alice stared at the vampire, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen, holding Gabe by the scruff of his neck. The vampire looked between Sookie and Alice, and the latter realised who this was.

"Godric," she said quietly from where she was on the floor.

"Hello again, Alice," he spoke with a European accent. He snapped Gabe's neck and dropped him to the ground as Sookie quickly buttoned up her dress. "You two should not have come."

Screaming could be heard from above, and Sookie began to look hopeful, while Godric shut his eyes.

"Bill?" she sad, getting up off the floor.

"No," Godric said. "I'm here, my child... down here," he said a little louder. A few seconds later, Eric made an appearance in the basement, and when he saw his maker, he instantly dropped to his knees in front of him.

"You were a fool for sending humans after me," Godric said to his progeny. He then glanced at Alice. "Least of someone you promised to protect."

"I had no other choice," Eric replied, with his head bowed. "These... these savages seek to destroy you."

"I'm aware of what they have planned," Godric said as Eric raised his head slowly. "This one betrayed you," he gestured at Hugo.

"He's with the Fellowship... they set a trapped for us," Alice said.

"How long has been since you have fed?" Eric asked his maker.

"I require very little blood any more."

An alarm began to go off, and everything in the room went tense.

"Save the humans. Go on."

"I'm not leaving your side until your-"

"I can take care of myself," Godric hissed at Eric.

"We have to go," Sookie began to make her way out of the cage.

"Spill no blood on your way out," Godric warned.

Eric stood up and allowed Sookie to pass first, telling her to wait at the top of the stairs for them. He then bent down slightly and offered out his arm for Alice to take and he helped her up. She winced as she did so.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her.

"Gabe," she gestured at the dead man on the ground. "I'll be fine."

"Will we get out of here alive?"

Alice gave him a blank look.

"You're asking me now when we're supposed to get out of here?" she sighed when Eric gave her a pointed look. "You or him?"

"Godric."

She turned towards the younger looking vampire and took his hand, and she instantly became overwhelmed. Yes, he got out of there alive, since they were all gathered at the nest with him, but there was something else that wasn't presenting itself to Alice, so she dropped his hand.

"Go," Godric urged them. "We will talk later, Alice."

The pair of them hurried up the stairs after Sookie, who was peering round a section of wall at their possible exit, that had three men with stakes there.

"I could have you out in seconds," Eric muttered, as he too looked.

"But you're not going to, since there's children out there, and you have orders from Godric," Alice pointed out.

"Why didn't you bring Bill with you?" Sookie asked him. Eric gave Alice a knowing look, so she knew that Lorena had obviously detained him.

"I don't think this is the time, Sook," Alice said.

"His attachment to you is irrational," Eric told the waitress. "It clouds his judgement. He would kill every child in this church to save you."

"Like you wouldn't do the same for Alice."

"As dear Ali just said, I wouldn't kill the children. Mainly because I am under orders from Godric, but the fact remains it would prove impractical to our escape."

"Godric is your maker, isn't he?"

"Don't use words you don't understand."

"You have a lot of love for him.

"...Don't use words I don't understand..." Eric's gaze flickered between the both of them "Can you two trust me?"

"Well-" Sookie began, but Alice cut across her.

"Even if we didn't trust you before, we may have to now, otherwise we're not getting out of here at all, are we _dear Eric_?"

The vampire in question smirked at her and turned his back to them, approaching the three men and putting on a Southern accent, pretending to be human. Alice had to refrain from giggling at the act, otherwise they would be caught. The two women watched the interaction pass between Eric and the humans, before he had obviously glamoured one of them into giving him a stake, which another noticed.

"Eric!" Alice called out, as he was about to _be_ staked. Quick as lightning, he knocked two of the guys down to the ground, and held the other one against the wall, holding his own stake against him.

"You don't have to kill him!" Sookie yelled as she and Alice came running out to him. The other two men had now run off in fear. Eric glanced at Alice and she shook her head, so he dropped the man and the stake, going to peer out the huge doors. A group of the humans from the Light of Day Institute were coming.

"You'll never make it through," the man on the ground said.

"Guys, through the sanctuary!" Sookie told hold of Eric and Alice and began to pull them in that direction.

"Oh, so that's what it's called..." Alice murmured as Eric pushed open the doors to it and then walked through.

"Where's the exit?" Eric asked.

"Back that way," Sookie pointed towards an emergency exit near the window.

"Oh there are _several_ exits, actually" came Steve Newlin's voice as he stepped out onto the pew. "For you, the easiest one takes you straight to hell."

"This isn't going to be fun," Alice said as more voices were heard and the group they had seen approaching the church had come inside, coming towards them, armed with silver chains and wooden stakes and anything that might be able to kill a vampire. Even more people came in from the emergency exit that they had been planning to go through. They were surrounded. "You know, you could let us leave, no one will die and _maybe_ we can forget about all of this," she then suggested, a little too hopefully.

"The war has begun you evil whores of Satan," Steve said. "You vampires cast the first stone by killing my family. The lines have been drawn; you're either with us, or against us. We are prepared for Armageddon."

"You've not seen him angry, have you?" she poked Eric in the side, and Sookie stomped on her foot. "Either way..." Alice scowled at Sookie. "Godric got away so you can't have your 'fancy' bonfire. You might as well just let us go, since he's gonna send help anyway."

"I'm not concerned with Godric... any vampire would do for our grand celebration, and we got one right here," he gestured at Eric, and the two women looked at him, and he at them.

"I'll be fine," he said.

"Don't lie," Alice whispered to the vampire, and he merely looked away, stepping forward towards Steve.

"Brothers and sisters," the reverend smiled. "There will be a holy bonfire at dawn."

* * *

Eric was on the altar, trying his hardest not to cry out in pain as the silver over his neck, arms and ankles burned right through his skin. Alice and Sookie were both being held back by members of the Fellowship, the former with tears streaming down her face as she watched what was happening to Eric. Alice was struggling to break free from the two men holding her back, but she couldn't. It was killing her to see Eric like that, and she wanted nothing more than to take the silver off of him and run as far from this place as she possibly could with him.

Steve then came and stood over Eric.

"You see?" he began. "Just as our Lord, our Saviour was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, just a few ounces of silver can betray a child of Satan to the world!" his voice had increased in volume, and there were murmurs of agreement among the Fellowship.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Sookie said. "How can you people even listen to him?!"

"Because God _totally_ approves of you harming someone," Alice cried out sarcastically.

The reverend was about to reply when Eric spoke up.

"I..." the vampire gasped. "I offer myself in exchange for Godric's freedom... and the girls' as well."

"That's noble," Steve nodded in approval. "But they're just as culpable as you are. They're both traitors to their race – the human race! Neither of them deserve any mercy..." he leaned towards Eric. "Maybe we should tie them to you and you can meet the sun together? Or maybe just the red head."

Alice managed to break one of her arms free and tried to make her way towards Eric, however the man she had broken free from grabbed her again. Alice kicked him in the shin and he pulled on her hair. She repeatedly said 'ow' and remained still, now unable to do anything as the man took hold of her once more. Steve was about to say something to Alice when there was a loud crash, and suddenly-

"Sookie!" it was Bill. He ran closer to the group near the altar, making them some of them scream and jump back.

"One more step vampire and the girl dies," Steve now had a gun pointed at Sookie's head.

"If you shoot her, everyone here will die!" Bill shouted at him, fiercely. "Let her go, now."

"Honestly, what do you they see in you?" he shook his head at Sookie and sighed.

"You'd be very surprised at what she's capable of," Alice told him, but he merely rolled his eyes at her.

"Soldiers, some silver chains for our friend here."

"No, don't, he's done nothing to you!" Sookie told Steve as one of the men began to go towards Bill, the chains rattling in his hands.

"Sookie, I will be fine," Bill reassured her.

"Bill, I'd like you to turn your attention to Eric," Alice gestured with her head at the silvered Eric.

Before anyone could reach Bill, there was a strange cry and then Steve dropped his gun, holding his hand in pain. The group scattered a little, looking for where the shot came from, and all eyes fell on no other but Jason Stackhouse.

"Let her go, fuckwad!" he shouted at Steve. He shot once again and a few people screamed as Steve did, a green paint blotch on the middle of his forehead.

"Son of bitch!" Steve said through gritted teeth as three men grabbed Jason and took the paintball gun away from him.

Bill took his chances and ran up to Sookie, pushing away the two men holding her, and he took her in his arms. The men that had been holding Alice let go of her in fear and backed off. She took this opportunity and pretty much launched herself up to Eric, colliding against the altar as she ripped off the silver. He sat up angrily, with his fangs bared and made for Steve, pinning him to the steps by the neck. Alice groaned and rubbed her ribs, mentally scolding herself for rushing like that.

"Don't kill him!" she called out to Eric.

"Kill him!" Jason shouted from across the church. "Kill the motherfucker!"

"Go on then," Steve told Eric. "Murder us. Murder us before God! We are willing to die."

People began to get afraid, hearing strange sounds once more around the church. Sookie held onto Bill like her life depended on it, and the pair of them looked around, wondering what was happening. Then Stan and several other of the Dallas vampires walked through the same doors Bill had come through, looking as if they could murder.

"Steve Newlin! You have pushed us too far," Stan started off. The Fellowship members huddled together in a tight knit group, tightening the grip on their stakes looking even more fearful now that several furious vampires were within metres of them. "You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come lynch us? We'll kill you first," he smirked a little and the men let go of Jason. "Same way we did your father."

"Fuck," Alice whispered, then began to make her way towards Bill and Sookie, stopping short when a nearby Dallas vampire growled.

"Murderer!" Steve shouted, trying to get up. Eric only growled and pushed him back down again, causing him to choke a little.

"Destroy them," Stan said gruffly. "All of them."

Each vampire ran to a human and took them, pulling their head back by the hair and preparing to tear out their necks with their teeth. The people were screaming for their lives, trying to run but only to be caught by a vampire who hadn't caught anyone yet.

"We have to go, now!" Bill told Sookie in all the uproar. "Alice, come on!" he called out to the other woman, who nodded, continuing to come towards them.

"Enough!" a familiar voice spoke from higher up. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards the back of the church to see Godric standing on the ledge of the bannister on the upper level, where the organ was. Even Eric let go of Steve. "You came for me, I assume? Underling?" he spoke directly to Stan.

"Yes, Sheriff..." Stan replied, a little irritated at the fact he had been prevented in killing this pathetic human he was holding.

"These people have not harmed me," Godric continued, addressing all of the vampires present now. Absolute silence filled the church. "You see, we can co-exist. Mr Newlin... I do not wish to create blood shed when none is called for. Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?"

"I will _not_ negotiate with sub-humans," Steve got to his knees and looked up at Eric, pulling aside his collar. "Kill me. Do it. Jesus will protect me," he offered his neck to the vampire and prepared himself to die.

"I'm actually older than your Jesus," Godric said. "I wish I could have known him, but I missed it," he gave a little shrug and Alice smiled slightly. However that smile was gone when Godric was down there faster than anyone could blink, picking up Steve by the back of his neck.

"Good people," he addressed the Fellowship. "Who of you are willing to die for this man's madness?" They all stared in silence, none of them responding. "That's what I thought. Stand down everyone."

Everyone relaxed a little as the vampires let go of their would-have-been victims.

"People: go home. It's over now."

Humans and vampires alike began to leave the church, while Steve crooned to the humans to not leave him, but none of them were listening. Godric then threw him down to the ground with a slightly disgusted look upon his face.

"I dare say my faith in human kind is stronger than yours," he told the reverend. "Come," he told to Eric and Stan, before walking away from the altar. As he approached Stan, the vampire said something to which Godric just told him to come and carried on walking.

Eric went over to Alice with what may have been a look of concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Well, when you're human, and some big burly guy punches you in the ribs and you keep on injuring that same part when it's already bruised... you find it painful," she told Eric, and he rolled his eyes. There was a thud and Eric looked over Alice's shoulder to see that Jason had knocked out Steve, who had fallen to the ground. The victorious looking Southerner then proceeded to walk with Bill and Sookie out of the church.

"You're hurting," Eric said to her.

"I'll be fine."

"You flung yourself at the altar and made it worse. That was stupid," he pointed out.

"Well, I couldn't stand to see you suffer like that!" she snapped back at him.

"How do you care about me so much? I'll never understand you," Eric said to her quietly, taking her arm and beginning to lead her out.

"I- I don't know. We'll both find that out one day... Eric slow down," she grimaced as he had tugged her along a little too hard. He glanced down at her and nodded, which was when Alice noticed something in his eyes. The concern was still there, but there was something else too. "Hey..." she shrugged out of his grip and gently touched his arm, stopping him from walking on without her.

"Let's get out of here, Alice..." he looked her in the eye, and she gave him a tiny smile.

Alice realised now that while he may have been nice to her in the past, it was because he wasn't a human-hating vampire, but he was well-mannered towards those humans who deserved it, and the fact he had more or less taken her under his wing. They'd had one or two sweet little moments, since they had been instigated by Alice herself, showing kindness towards him.

Their civility had been invoked so they could actually get along, instead of throwing mindless insults at each other because they didn't want to be around each other. They had both felt like they had been stuck with each other by default, which neither of them had wanted. Eric hadn't wanted to be protect Alice, she didn't want to be protected. Somehow among all of that, they had actually become friends, with the extent that Alice had naturally grown to care about him. At least he had been honest about why he had given her his blood, and Eric had become fond of actually trying to make sure she was safe.

Now it seemed like he was struggling to admit that he did care for her, since he was acting a little like how he did when she first met him. She knew that overall he was a hard-hearted vampire, and he hated letting people in, that much was obvious. But behind the concern and annoyance in his eyes, there was a tiny amount of care for Alice, and she could spot that.

"You don't need to be averse to feelings," she muttered, now looking down at her feet, so she missed the surprise crossing his face.

"I'll never understand you," he repeated from earlier, and she smirked.

"You have more than a soft spot for me, don't you?"

"I'm not talking about this now. Let's leave. Godric is waiting for us at the nest," Eric told her, and then he scooped her up into his arms, and used his vampire speed to flee into the night and eventually fly away from that god forsaken place.

* * *

**So yay, Godric! He and Alice have an interesting little chat, I can tell you that. It regards Eric as well, in some ways.**

**Review?**

**Livvy x**


	25. Caring

**Y'all seemed to enjoy the last chapter a lot, which is great! I hope you like this one just as much! And I have developed a habit of saying y'all... which is kind of awkward because I'm British? Ehh, I blame True Blood. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

They arrived back at the house, and Eric carefully put Alice down on her own two feet. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to untangle it as they made their way inside. There were a few other vampires besides Godric in the main area, and they were all relieved to see that their sheriff was alive and well. Two of those vampires were Stan and Isabel, so Alice assumed that only the nest members were there. As soon as the ancient vampire saw his progeny and Alice, he excused himself and came over to them. Being well aware of Alice's injury, he tentatively took her in his embrace.

Alice shot Eric a surprised look, and he raised his eyebrows in such a way to tell her to hug him back, which is exactly what she did. After a few moments, he pulled away and smiled at her.

"We'll have more privacy upstairs," he told the both of them, and led them away from the other vampires. They were taken into a human bedroom, another thing which surprised Alice, but then she thought that during the time Godric had owned this house, humans were probably likely to stay over, and there was the fact that not all vampire slept in the ground like Bill did. "You were hurt tonight."

"I... well, yesterday, technically," Alice mumbled, sitting on the edge of the bed. Eric closed the door and hovered near her.

"Allow me to heal you," Eric said, but she shook her head.

"I've had enough of your blood as of late."

"You're in pa-"

"I am _fine_," she sighed, her hand clutching and squeezing at the bedsheets she was sitting on. It was distracting.

"Then stop doing that," he bent down to hiss in her ear, grabbing her wrist hard enough for her to let go, so he could lift it and put it in her lap. Up until that point, Godric had been watching their interaction with amusement. Eric was a little more lenient with her that with other humans, until the point he himself got annoyed with something she did.

"Do not handle her like that, my child," he said to Eric sternly.

"He's done far worse," Alice mumbled, then her eyes grew wide, realising that was something she should not have said. "Never mind, that's gone and done in the past. I..." she looked at Godric who had now come to sit next to her, and Eric was now leaning with his back against the wall, his arms folded.

"What is it, Alice?"

"Have you really been giving me yearly check ups?" she asked, a little embarrassed that she was even questioning it. "Eric told me that you had..."

"I had to make sure you were safe, that no-one would come for you before you even know of your own powers. But I had also promised Rosalind that I would look out for you, and I asked the same thing of Eric should you ever cross his path. I'm quite surprised you did, actually," Godric glanced over at Eric, bemused.

"I was too," the other vampire said, standing a little straighter. "Usually they would come across Godric first, and then naturally me," he added, a little cockily. Alice stared him directly in the eye, her face now entirely blank and said perhaps the crudest thing that ever fell from her mouth for the time being.

"You fucked and fed from them, didn't you?"

Godric coughed awkwardly from next to Alice, and Eric merely smirked.

"Actually, we both did. Well, we didn't feed from them, but we fucked them, yes."

"That is a better answer than I was expecting," Alice shrugged. "So... meaningless stuff aside, I just want answers. No, I need answers. Eric told me you had them, Godric."

"What are the questions to the answers you seek?" he asked her.

"I... I don't know..." Alice stood up and began pacing up and down the room. Everyone was silent for a fair amount of time, waiting for Alice to speak. "Actually... I do know. For a start, I just want to know _why_ and _how_ you two became so interested in my ancestors and me and... just got all wrapped up in whatever the hell it is we all were and are. Secondly, Godric, how were you able to hide something from me when I took your hand in the basement? And thirdly, what is it with one thousand year old Viking vampires who are supposed to be scared of nothing but are afraid of maybe having a tiny ounce of care for someone?!" she stopped and stared daggers at Eric, who gave her his look of death right back, and made to come towards her, however Godric stood up and came between them.

"Perhaps you should leave while I talk with Alice."

"Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of me."

"Eric," Godric raised his voice a little. The younger vampire's expression turned stony and he nodded slowly, exiting the room, closing the door a little louder than necessary. Godric sat down on the bed again and patted the space next to him for Alice to sit. She hesitated for a few seconds before doing so.

"We never intended to become so wrapped up in the enigma that is your past, Alice," Godric said softly. "We thought that it was by mere coincidence when we kept meeting each woman who had visions of what was to come. Until of course I met Rosalind, and then eventually when you came along," he smiled slightly. "When she told me that she knew you were to be the one to inherit her gift, I was able to figure out from there that you were both part of a very long line of females."

"So it was just something that happened?" she asked a little unsure. "You didn't want to... for the purpose of words, you didn't really want to know, but you ended up knowing?"

"That is one way to put it... Alice, you have to understand that there are vampires out there that would want to use this for their own advantage, for something much bigger than merely making sure that one of their own kind was safe, or for keeping balance between vampire and human kind."

"Keeping the balance between vampire and human kind? Is that an elaborate way of saying _keeping clients in check_?" she raised an eyebrow at Godric, who inclined his head slightly, then looked at her a little oddly.

"You think Eric is merely using you?"

"What else do you think I'm beginning to suspect?" Alice threw her hands up in the air in frustration and then began to pace the room again. "Sure, Eric pays me, but at the moment it seems like he's only doing things to suit himself. He even said tonight he'll never understand me, and right now even _I_ don't understand me. For some reason I cannot fathom I ended up caring about your child, even though I hadn't mean to!"

"Alice. Calm. It may feel like that, but he is helping you in strengthen your ability. Before I... ended up at the Fellowship," he said uneasily. "We obviously kept in contact. He has concerns of how many know of what you can do, because he knows of vampires that would do anything to have someone like you," Godric paused before continuing. "He has probably explained to you why he has given you blood on those occasions. It's to make sure you don't do anything particularly reckless, or if you happen to end up somewhere undesirable, he can do something. Or he could get someone else to do something."

"We seem to be half-answering my third question..."

"Keep focused Alice. Had it been any other vampire you had accidentally displayed your ability to in the first place, what then, hmm?" Alice could feel Godric's eyes boring into her being, and so she ceased pacing for the second time that night, and gave him her full attention.

"Nothing. They wouldn't have done anything. Eric had me going back there to practise, but they wouldn't have done a thing. No answers. It would be a case of just do it or die," she eventually said after a while.

"Good. We're getting somewhere. Has Eric ever given you that case?" Godric looked at Alice expectantly, and that was something she didn't like. Even though it was obvious there was a right answer to that question, one that she would have said anyway, she felt almost a little forced into saying it.

"No. He hasn't," she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I just... okay, so I get that other vampires would literally kill to have me under their command, but... right, this is going to be completely off of that topic, since it's been bugging me ever since Eric mentioned it the other night... where did you meet me?"

Godric smiled at her and chuckled.

"It was an amusing situation, I have to tell you that. You won't remember it, at all, so I'm glad to tell you. You were barely two, and at your grandmother's house, and very sleepy at that."

"I slept a lot as a child and apparently my parents grew worried because I wasn't like my older sisters causing chaos," Alice shrugged as if to say 'I don't know.'

* * *

_Godric and Eric were sitting at a table across from the aged Rosalind Carter. She appeared pleased to see them again, even though there was a pressing matter at hand. She glanced through the doorway to the living room, where Alice was curled up on the sofa clutching a teddy bear to her chest. A quick look at the clock told her it was just gone eight in the evening._

"_It's been a very long time since we last saw you," Eric began, raising an unamused eyebrow, and Rosalind sighed. "Forty years, maybe?"_

"_I couldn't put up with it any more," she shook her head. "I wanted to start a family, and I couldn't do that with..." she gave Godric a sad smile._

"_You could have at least let us knew how you were from time to time," said the ancient vampire. "I grew worried that perhaps-"_

"_I know the deal Godric, but let's stop there," the human held up a hand to stop he and Eric from talking. During that time they had spent with her after the war, they knew not to annoy her. "I'm getting old – well, I _am_ old – and the other day I had a vision about Alice."_

"_The little one sleeping over there?" Godric pointed through the door, and Rosalind nodded._

"_She's going to be just like me."_

"_And this is important because...?" Eric asked, slightly miffed at being called there for idle chit chat._

"_You said a very long time ago that vampires were thinking of coming out into the open?" she directed this at Godric, remembering something he had said in her youth. Back then it had just been an idea, and she wondered if her become more set in stone._

"_It's no longer an idea," Godric replied, as if he were thinking of what she was. "In perhaps the next couple of decades, we should be able to make ourselves know to all humans. Why?"_

"_If that is the case, would it be too much of an old woman to ask her former lover and his son to protect her favourite granddaughter? You said it yourself Godric, that a power like this would be valuable in your world. I don't want her to get hurt. I want her to eventually find the right people to help her."_

"_I'm not going to babysit some human when she's a grown woman," Eric groaned, and Rosalind glared at him._

"_She'll need help, when she finds out about what she can do. She'll be scared, like I was. Then I ran into Godric..."_

"_Yes. You ran into _Godric._ Not me. I could not care less about any of this, I'm tired of running into people like you," he shook his head. "If it happens in the time when vampires are known to the world, then she'll be a lot more trouble than she's worth."_

_Godric said something in Swedish and Eric retaliated, a small argument occurring in the foreign language. Rosalind could pick up some things, mainly when they insulted each other, but the point of it was that Eric did not want to be burdened with a human. That was something which greatly irritated her, and she was about to cut into their argument in English when a small voice stopped all three of them._

"_Nanna?" curly-haired Alice was rubbing her eyes with one hand, her teddy in the other, standing in the doorway to the kitchen._

"_Alice, come here," Rosalind patted her lap and Alice stumbled over and sat in it, not really taking any notice of Godric and Eric as she rested her head on her grandmother's shoulder. Alice then vaguely caught sight of the two men just staring at her, she waved at him blearily._

"_Hi!"_

"_Hello," Godric smiled at her._

"_Odin kill me now," Eric muttered, and Godric kicked him. Alice looked at Eric, still very sleepy, and tilted her head to the side._

"_Hair," she then said, miming a motion with scissors, before promptly falling asleep once more, content with her grandmother's warm embrace. Godric was trying not to laugh, as was Rosalind. Eric sat there looking ever so slightly confused and mortified._

"_Did- did she just tell me to get a hair cut?" he eventually said, the mortification not leaving his face._

"_I believe she did, my son," Godric smirked._

"_How does she even know what scissors are?!"_

"_She once saw one of her older sisters get a hair cut," Rosalind shrugged, rubbing the child's back as she slept. "But back to the point... will you do it?"_

"_I certainly won't," Eric scoffed, and Godric frowned at his child, before nodding at Rosalind._

"_I promise that if I ever cross paths with Alice in the future, I will make sure she is safe. Unless of course she crosses Eric's path first, then I cannot do anything. It is up to Eric. If you would like, Rose, I shall come back here and keep an eye on Alice from a distance. Not very often, but enough to make sure she is all right."_

"_If it's not too much trouble," Rosalind smiled softly._

"_I'd do anything for you, Rose."_

"_I'm going," Eric rolled his eyes, standing up._

"_Eric..."_

"_I'm not going to sit here and watch you two get all nostalgic," then he was gone, and Godric was shaking his head._

"_I should leave too," he then said, going over to Rosalind. "I hope to see you again soon, my dear," he pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then one to the top of Alice's head. "Sleep well, little one."_

* * *

"I don't remember that at all," Alice shook her head. "But I told Eric to get a hair cut? I told him that recently, actually. He did as well, but I don't think it was because I said it," she shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, little two year old you told a one thousand year old Viking vampire to get a hair cut – and it _terrified_ him," Godric laughed. Alice smiled a little, a small look of upset crossing her features.

"He didn't want to know me."

"No," Godric said seriously. "He didn't. He's not fond of the unknown, and that was what you were to him – the unknown. However I can assure you that he's... glad, so to speak, that you met him before you met me. He wasn't a fan of your grandmother, she got annoyed with him far too easily for his own liking."

"Yeah that was my gran in a nutshell I guess... she really did not like people going against what she wanted, but she was generally a lovely woman."

"How... how did she die?"

"Heart attack," Alice said sadly. "I was only nine at the time, and I didn't know what that was. All I knew was that she had been taken from me and I couldn't see her again. I was closer to her than with my siblings or parents," she shrugged. "But she was religious, and I reckon she's... raising hell in heaven... oh my god," she laughed. "That's ironic."

"Very ironic," Godric agreed. "Before we get sidetracked, however, do you still think Eric is using you?"

"After that story? I'm still going with no, because even though he didn't want to help at first, he did. He obviously changed a little bit over the years, but if he was using me, he wouldn't find me that much of annoyance and before you say anything... we _both_ annoy the hell out of each other. It makes it kind of fun, I guess, going to Fangtasia to practise some strange ability and get paid to put it in action."

"Good. I'm glad we sorted that, and the reason how we all mixed together in the first place," Godric said, then he faced her more squarely and took hold of her shoulders. "Now Alice, I'm going to tell you now that I am not hiding anything from you."

"Then why did it feel like that when I-"

"Stop. You were tired and scared, because you had been in that basement for nearly two days. You were not picking up things straight."

"Promise?" Alice had tears in her eyes. She didn't want to think that she had missed out something to with Godric's life. She may have barely knew him, but Alice really liked Godric, and he had answers about her that she needed. He'd be a good friend to her, and he already knew a lot about her, so it seemed.

"I promise," he said sincerely, gently touching her cheek, and she smiled slightly.

"What about Eric? Why is he so averse to emotions?" she asked quietly, and Godric sighed.

"I believe that is my fault. I taught him that emotions are a sign of weakness. That was wrong, and it is wrong. Alice, he does care for you. I know it. Otherwise he would not have willingly went on that altar earlier tonight to make sure you were not harmed any more than you had already been. He would not have given you his blood to heal you if he did not-"

The door slammed open suddenly, and an irritated Eric was standing before them. Alice scrabbled back to the head of the bed, while Godric stood.

"Don't talk about me like that," he angrily told his maker.

"Eric, she-"

"What I think is not a matter of discussion between you two, you have no right!"

"Stop this now," Godric stared down Eric, and he was silent for a moment. As he glanced at Alice, he would have rolled his eyes at the sight but he couldn't bring himself to do so. She was scared. Godric looked back at her before glaring at Eric.

"You frightened her, you deal with this. She has not had a good few days," he said at only a volume that Eric would hear, and he left the two of them alone. Eric sighed and shut the door, standing there for a moment.

"I've told you before not to do that. It makes me feel too much like a human," he commented on the fact she was crying, only that seemed to make it slightly worse. "Come here..."

Eric went over to the bed and sat down, putting his legs up and resting against the headboard, pulling Alice to him, and she rested her head down on his lap, meaning her body was pretty much curled up in a ball, even if it was hurting her.

"Why are you crying?" he questioned after a moment. She sniffed.

"Because I don't know if you even care about me and- and-" more tears, and so Eric lazily began to stroke her hair.

"If I didn't care about you, would I be sitting here, allowing you to cry into my lap?"

"No..."

"There you have it," he fell quiet again, the only things filling the room being Alice's little sniffs every now and then. "I have a question for you... why did you cry when I was on the altar?"

"I- I didn't like seeing you like that. I mean... we're friends, I guess."

"I guess."

"And I care about my friends. I didn't like seeing you hurt."

"I was fine."

"The silver was burning you," her cries became heavier again. "Of course you weren't fine."

Eric could not tell her a lie, without her seeing right through it. Even if it was to reassure her, she'd still see right through it. He hadn't even been aware that she cared enough about him that she'd cry when seeing him chained up like that. However, he thought that it probably wasn't just that. She'd not slept much in the past couple of days, due to being held captive by the Fellowship, and the whole situation itself had been shocking for her. He was just glad she hadn't been shocked enough into panic.

"Shhh," he said softly. "You need to sleep."

"You'll stay?"

"For a while. I need to get back to Godric."

"Okay..." she eventually stopped crying. It must have taken about half an hour, but Eric kept silent, all the while just stroking her hair. To think he was doing this was something that frightened him. This was the second time he'd had to deal with Alice crying, and he didn't like it one bit. Not because of the fact it was because _she_ was crying, but because crying in general was something he preferred to stay away from.

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**I bet you guys weren't expecting that little flashback, were you? It seemed fitting... comment?**

**Livvy x**


	26. Explosion

**Hello again everyone! You'll like this chapter, since it explains the Bill/Lorena thing, even if it is only very quickly. Oh and some anonymous review replies are going to be at the bottom :)**

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When Alice woke up an hour or two before sunset the next day, she found that some clothes had been left out for her at the foot of the bed. She was still curled up, but Eric was no longer there. He had probably gone to ground some place else in the house. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she made her way towards the clothes, where a note in Eric's scrawl lay upon them.

_Alice,_

_You probably wanted fresh clothes._

_Bathroom is opposite the bedroom._

_I even got you food. It's in the fridge._

_Eat it before the vampires all wake up. We hate the smell of human food._

_-Eric._

She chuckled and took up the pile of clothes, moving into the bathroom, stripping off her dirty clothes and stepping into the shower. She was surprised that she had been allowed to stay in the nest, for vampires who didn't personally know a human would not trust them to be up and about around them during the day. Alice thought that maybe Godric and Eric had spoken with the other nest members about her staying there, so of course they would have had to be fine with it. After all, Godric was their sheriff, and the oldest vampire in the area.

As she got out of the shower, she dried herself off quickly, and patted her hair as dry as it would go with a towel. Alice put on the clothes Eric had gotten for her. She knew they were hers from the hotel, and it was her deep blue day dress. Well, he certainly liked some things about her, that much she could tell from the note that had been hidden in one of the small pockets.

_The best one._

_-Eric_

Alice pocketed that little note once more after she had gotten herself dressed. She even put on her jacket, despite the fact she'd be staying inside for the night. Then she just wasn't sure want to do with her other clothes. Maybe she should just toss them at some point later in the day. That would work. For the time being, she folded them up and placed them at the foot of the bed, before making her way downstairs to the blackened out open living area. She flipped on a light switch and made her way over to the fridge. Among the masses of bottles of TruBlood, there was a bowl full of strawberries, and a bar of chocolate next to that.

"Bless your dead heart, Eric Northman," she chuckled, taking the bowl and the bar from the fridge and going to sit on the on the sofa. "You really did try."

The only thoughts that came to mind while she happily devoured her food were what was going to entail later on today. She had been getting a slight headache and flashes of a large amount of vampires and humans alike within that very house, so Alice assumed that a gathering was to take place, as if to welcome back Godric. It seemed fitting for the ancient vampire, as it was very clear he was much loved by his subjects.

Alice ate pretty fast, since she had not eaten for the best of two days. Steven Newlin had not been very forthcoming on that front. He had definitely painted himself a very good caricature of being a saint, but he was the absolute polar opposite. It kind of sickened Alice that that man had been able to manipulate so many minds to his unworthy and most definitely ungodly cause. She was not a religious woman herself, but surely anyone could see that he doing something that God would not permit. Vampires had been human once, and they certainly did not need to be persecuted by someone so vile.

"You're thinking hard about something," came Eric's voice from the stairs. Alice snapped out of the daze that she had apparently been in and smiled at him.

"It's nothing. Thanks for the food."

He was in front of her in an instant, taking the empty wrapper and bowl away from her. Alice raised an eyebrow as he disposed of the wrapper and quickly rinsed out the bowl, placing it back in the cupboard after he had dried it.

"I should have filmed that," she then commented as he came back over to sit next to her.

"Why?"

"You don't come across as the type of person to even be the slightest bit domesticated," Alice shrugged, laughing a bit. Eric rolled his eyes, and Godric then made himself present in the room.

"I see you two are getting along fine," he said, smiling, and Alice really burst into a fit of giggles. Godric and Eric stared at each other, confused. "Is... is everything all right, Alice?" he then asked, staring at the giggling red-head. She managed to stop her tirade of laughter, nodding.

"Yes, this all just feels very domestic to me," there was no longer a smile on her face, but it was in her eyes. "I've not felt like that for a while."

"A life with vampires is hardly domestic..." Eric pointed out, just as the light-blocking curtains began to rise, exposing the floor to ceiling windows and the darkened sky.

"You're telling me," Alice shook her head at him, the squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying to clear the vision from her head. "Well this evening is going to be fun. House full of vampires and all. And please don't ask me what else there is, because all I see is vampire chatting and being as merry as they can for moody vampires," she opened her eyes to roll them.

"Sassy bitch," Eric murmured, getting up and going to lean against the wall.

"Vicious asshole."

"Children, please," Godric input calmly. Alice and Eric glanced at each other, smirking. "The others shall be rising soon, and then we'll have even more guests coming. Sookie, her brother and Bill included. I'm to believe she was worried when you did not return to the hotel, Alice."

"Ah. I should have text her to let her know I was all right," Alice dug her hand into her jacket and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, there were a couple of texts from Sookie. She just hadn't thought to check, since she'd put it on silent mode. "What's the point now? She'll be here in about half an hour," she pocketed the phone once more.

"Fair enough."

Alice looked at Godric, _really_ looked at Godric. He may have promised her the previous night that he had nothing to hide, but she could not believe it. Something about his expression seemed almost wistful and distant. He caught her staring, and his features changed instantly to something much happier and sweeter.

Soon enough – but too soon for Alice's liking – the other vampires rose, and ones who were not from the nest but resided in Dallas began to arrive. A few gave her quite hungry looks, and it was now she hated the fact she probably smelled like something of a dream to vampires, going by how Bill had reacted when she had been attacked by the monster. It had apparently been a job for him to retract his fangs.

Speaking of the vampire, he and Sookie had arrived. Alice had been hiding behind the wall by the stairs, out of sight, and Eric had had to bring her friends to her. The women hugged each other, with Sookie fussing over Alice, to which the red head only smiled at.

"I'm fine," she said after they pulled apart. "Really. I was in good hands with Godric and Eric."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," Alice turned away from Sookie to Bill and they stared at each other for a few moments. "Oh come here you," she too pulled him into a tight hug, something of which he had not been expecting, and neither had Sookie or Eric. Bill awkwardly gave her a pat on the back, and she then let go of him. He looked at Eric.

"I need to have a word," he said curtly.

"Of course you do..." Eric smirked. "Come on," he lead Bill away from the women, so they took this chance to go out into the crowd of vampires and humans in the main area.

"You do realise Eric led us into a trap," Sookie told her as they came to a stop.

"I couldn't care less right now," Alice stared over Sookie's shoulder at Godric, who was sitting in a chair with a long line of people before him.

"What the- Alice! I was nearly raped and I'm pretty sure if he had been able to do that he would have started on y-"

"Shut up. I get that what almost happened to pair of us was terrible, and yes that Eric knew that it was going to be a trap but we have bigger problems than what the hell happened to us _yesterday_!" Alice snapped, then she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just..." she looked pointedly over Sookie's shoulder once more at Godric, so that the other woman looked too.

"Godric?"

Alice nodded.

"What is it?"

"He hasn't seemed... seemed _right_ since we got him back. I mean, when you left the basement, I took his hand and it was like he was keeping something back, or that something _couldn't_ be shown."

"It's bugging the crap outta you, isn't it?" Sookie squeezed Alice's arm lightly.

"What do you think? Eric just got his maker back and if he's about to lose him again... who knows what might happen?"

"You're worried about Eric?" Sookie raised an eyebrow.

"He's my... he's my friend," Alice stood a little straighter, feeling somewhat proud. A small smile came to her face. "I don't want to see him hurt, even if he would insist he was fine."

"I don't get how you can call him your friend, but if you two truly are friends, then I'm fine with that."

"Really?" Alice gave her a look of disbelief.

"Sure. He may be an absolute asshole at times, it's obvious he likes you being his friend. Sexual comments aside, of course," Sookie chuckled a little.

"And me constantly poking him with a stick to the point where we both end up pissed off," Alice laughed. She felt more at ease with Sookie around, especially in a room mainly full of vampires.

"It's always fun watching you two bicker."

At this point, Bill came back over to them, needing to talk to Sookie alone, so Alice drifted back over to Eric who was standing by the stairs.

"I should actually slap you."

"Ah yes. You should. I offer you my face to do so," Eric turned his head slightly so his left cheek was vulnerable to Alice. She simply stared at him, not entirely sure what to do. "I'm waiting."

"I don't want to slap you."

"That's a lie and we both know it. I knew you were walking into a trap."

"All to get Godric back, however."

"You're worried about him," Eric stood normally once more, realising that Alice was never going to slap him.

"There's something off about him. Can't you tell? He is _your_ maker after all," she hissed at him.

"He does seem... different. Not like he was before The Fellowship incident," Eric frowned. "I sincerely hope you're not being overly paranoid."

"_We_. Not just me, Eric," Alice sighed and shook her head, beginning to walk away from him. "I'm going to speak with him again."

There line to Godric had become considerably shorter, and nobody else was joining on the end, except for Alice. She only had to wait for about ten minutes before being the last person to speak with him in this manor.

"Little Alice," a twitch in the corner of his mouth suggested he was going to smile, but he seemed to know why she was there.

"Please give me your hand," she said quietly. Godric was silent for a moment, before doing so. However as soon as Alice took his hand, she instantly regretted it, and she let go, falling to her knees with tears in her eyes. Immediately, Godric took her away from any prying eyes and into the bedroom she had been staying in.

"Alice-"

"You promised me you weren't hiding anything!" she sobbed into his shoulder, clutching at his shirt. "You _promised_."

"I'm sorry," an arm wrapped around her while the other went to stroke her hair. "I'm so sorry..."

"I don't- I don't want you to burn, Godric," she knew that Eric would know something was wrong with every passing sob and feeling of fear that exuded from her.

"I am a monster. I deserve it."

"If you were such a monster, you wouldn't be holding me like this," Alice whispered, and he smiled sadly, not that she could see it.

"Two thousand years, I have roamed this earth. I have grown to detest what I truly am. I do not want to live in guilt of the lives I have taken. If I offer myself to the sun willingly, they might forgive me."

"I won't forgive you. Neither will Eric," she pulled back from him and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Please, you can't burn. I want... I want to be friends with you, know you, and you can help me."

"Eric is doing a perfectly job of that," Godric cupped her cheek gently. Alice shut her eyes at his cool touch, feeling a little calmer.

"Please, don't," she opened her eyes to stare into his. "When the time comes, I will be on my knees begging you not to."

"Alice, I wouldn't want you to be present."

"That's too bad, because I will do everything I can to stop you from burning. You're not a monster any more, Godric. You've changed over two thousand years. Anyone can if they had that long to live."

"You have a heart of hope," he told her, and she shrugged.

"You don't deserve to die," were her final words before she returned back downstairs, still a little shaken by what might happen.

Eric gave her an odd look as she passed him, and he took her wrist.

"What happened? Why are you upset?"

"I was worried, and I just... broke down..." Godric may have said she had a heart of hope, but she certainly didn't have the heart to tell the truth to Eric. She couldn't burden him with that, and Godric had not told him of his plans. It was better for Eric to live in ignorance for the time being.

"As long as you're fine now," Eric gave a half smile and let go of her. Before she could progress further, Godric had made his way down the stairs, and returned to his chair. He didn't give her or Eric a single glance, he only looked around the room at the other guests. "You sure everything is all right?"

"I unsettled him a bit, that's all," Alice said vaguely, when an interesting sight caught her eye. "Eric... Lorena's here."

They went over to the spot where Bill, Sookie and Lorena were talking – well, arguing. Apparently Bill was avoiding the reason why he had not been able to get to The Fellowship sooner, and Lorena was explaining it in such a way that made it seem like she and Bill had had sex.

"Lorena, are you spewing lies to spite Miss Stackhouse?" Eric interjected, and she smirked.

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because you're a bitch?" Alice suggested, and Lorena's fangs clicked out.

"I'd watch your tongue, Miss Carter, because I wouldn't mind tearing it out, no matter who you belong to," her gaze flickered to Eric and he growled, while Alice turned a little paler.

"Alice have you _met_ her before?" Sookie asked, beginning to get angry.

"Eric..." Alice turned to him.

"Well, Lorena came to visit us a few days ago," he then said.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted my William back, of course. I can't believe he'd be monogamous with the likes of _you_," Lorena said distastefully, and Sookie gaped at her.

"How did you even find out I was in Dallas?" Bill spoke up for the first time in a while. "Unless someone told you..." his gaze shifted to Eric.

"Oh fuck me," the other vampire groaned. "Why would I bring your annoying maker back into your life? And introduce her into the rest of ours?"

"That's very sweet of you, Eric," the female vampire remarked sarcastically. "But I found out that the sheriff of Area Nine had gone missing, and that the sheriff of Area Five, an underling and two humans were being brought in to help. Naturally I got curious and found out dear William was said underling."

"Oh my god, you love him, don't you?" Alice came to that conclusion.

"She's not mouthy, but intelligent too. You should _definitely_ keep her, Eric."

"I plan to," he said, still glaring at her, and Alice threw him a slightly horrified look.

"I'm not your pet."

"I know."

"Then don't _act_ like I am."

"Shut up," he hissed at her.

"I will slap you."

"I said _shut up_."

"Your bickering is sweet, but-"

"Bill will never love you," Sookie then said abruptly. Now that started a whole new thing, so Alice moved away, as did Eric. He went to go and speak with Godric, and Alice watched from the distance. Going by the way Eric's shoulders slumped after a few minutes, it was not a good conversation, so to speak. When they were done, he came and stood with her.

"All right?" she asked him, folding her arms.

"He's not feeding. He believes vampires are monsters and we have not evolved."

"Well, he does-"

Silence fell through the room as they saw that Godric had Lorena by the throat as she was about to hurt Sookie, who was now being held by Bill. Godric spoke to Lorena sternly, and eventually Bill was seen escorting her out of the nest, and the chatter resumed.

"Fuck me," Alice repeated the words that Eric had said earlier. He smirked at her.

"Would you like to?"

"In your dreams."

"But mostly in yours."

"You two make me wanna puke," Sookie smiled at them as she approached them. "I swear you two are just friends?"

"Not as much as you and Bill make me want to vomit," Alice retorted, laughing a bit. "And yes, we are just friends, right Eric?"

"Of course."

Before they could continue their conversation, the man that Alice had seen with Jason outside the church began to talk.

"Excuse me, everyone," he said. "If I could have your attention... my name is Luke McDonald. I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun and I have a message for you all from Reverend Steve Newlin."

He unzipped his jacket to reveal silver, wood and explosives.

"Get behind me," Eric hissed to Alice and Sookie just in time, for Luke raised his hand and pressed a button and Alice was thrown to the ground as everything went black.

* * *

**You guys like? I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Eric gets the slap he had been waiting for. That is all I am going to say. You can interpret that how you will, but I'm not going to say whether you're right or not, haha! Comment?**

**Livvy x**

_Anonymous replies_

_Maddy - well, I'm building up a good dynamic between them, so there won't be any of _that_ just yet. You're going to have to wait a little longer, I'm afraid. However, I can say there will definitely be more kissing! They can get so cute when they kiss._


	27. Aftermath

The blackness was only temporary for Alice, and it began to seep away after a few seconds of being thrown to the ground. However, once it cleared her eyesight did not return to normal, but it remained very, very blurry. She squeezed her eyes tight closed for a few moments, only to open them to find nothing had changed, and confused thoughts crossed her mind. There was a ringing in her ears, a ringing that would not go away, and she could barely hear the dreadful screams echoing through the room.

Alice was able to register the fact that Eric was on top of her, and that Sookie was next to her, also underneath the Viking. He was heavy, that was for sure, but also momentarily stunned like herself. As the ringing in her ears began to fade, the screams slowly but surely increased but she could still not see clearly, but she heard Eric groan loudly and felt Sookie shuffle out from underneath him, meaning that all his weight was now on Alice.

"You're so heavy..." she heard Sookie remark, and found she couldn't agree more.

"Eric..." Alice found her voice, and she felt him flip himself round. Something dripped down onto her face, wet and warm. "Eric... are you bleeding?"

"I had to protect you and Sookie. Silver bullets... I feel... weak..." he rasped out, and she frowned. _Oh sure you're weak,_ she thought. She struggled under Eric, blindly trying to get away from him but he didn't move or allow her to. She just wanted to have a breathing space, and he wasn't giving that to her.

"Do that again, that felt nice."

"Eric," she didn't even try to tell him off for that comment, and instead – somehow with her hindered vision – smacked him hard round the face. It seemed more appropriate to do that. Her hand stung as she brought it back down, and the resounding slap seemed to trigger the rest of her senses back into motion. The screams of the injured and ones who had lost people were too loud for her, and the smell of too much fresh blood hit her nose. She felt herself go cold, and she could practically hear every single heartbeat of hers. "Eric, please, Eric, get me out of here!" Alice cried at him, and she felt him get off of her.

"Take my arm," he then said. Her sight suddenly cleared all at once and it caused her to panic even further and she ended up scrabbling away from him, her own breaths becoming louder and faster. She sat up and backed up against the wall, trying not to look around her. The screams had died down to cries, but she felt sick. Really sick. Sick enough to want to vomit right there and then, but she kept it down.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she dared to peek at the carnage surrounding her. The entire house was a wreck, all furniture destroyed. Piles of bloody mush told her that vampires had had wood blast through them, causing them to disintegrate. Humans lay around either partly on their way to death or merely stunned like she had been. She looked up at Eric, and he had three bullet holes in his shoulder and chest area. He wasn't bleeding much, and she could see the bullets beginning to be pushed out of his body, and she moved her gaze to Sookie. She was very pale, but she also appeared concerned for Alice. Then Bill came along and took hold of her, and she clung to him like her life depended on it. He had not a single scratch on him, for he had been outside getting rid of Lorena when the bomb was set off.

"Eric get me out of here," she said again, hugging her knees to her chest, shaking with tears falling down her cheeks for the second time that night. Alice rested her forehead on her knee caps, refusing to look around her as strong arms picked her up and carried her into the cool night air. She knew it was Eric, the hold was familiar and she then clutched at his tank top, now putting an around his shoulder.

Alice knew that Eric had lifted off into the air, for the force caused some of her hair to whip into her eyes. She shut her eyes, and she opened them to find they were entering the hotel. She felt disorientated, and her eyelids drooped closed again. The next time she was more conscious, they were in the hotel room – no, the bathroom.

Eric had placed her on the bathroom floor, and he was sitting next to her. She didn't have the chance to try and say 'thank you' before vomit rose in her throat and she was violently sick into the toilet. Alice felt like she was heaving her entire body into the bowl. She did not see the disgusted face Eric made, but felt him pull back her hair and rub her back. Soon that very hand came round to her front and gently rubbed the sore spot on her ribs, something which Alice was grateful for.

She hovered there for a few moments when she was done, just in case she felt the need to be sick again. When she knew she was not going to be, she sank back against Eric's chest, and he let go of her hair to flush the toilet. She was still shaking, but her breathing was normal again. Eric then carefully moved away from her, towards the shower and bathtub, which he filled up with water. He turned off the tap when the tub was full enough, and he began to strip Alice of her clothes, having enough decency to keep his face straight, keep looking directly into her eyes and not say anything. Then as if she weighed nothing, he lifted her into the warm water, where the debris and dirt that had accumulated on her skin began to drift off.

Alice looked at Eric and saw that he was no longer bleeding. The silver bullets had been fully pushed out of his body while it was healing. He had been totally fine. He spied where she had been looking and snorted lightly, then quickly glanced at her side, which had a purple bruise on it. His gaze then went to her hair.

"You need to get the dirt out of it," he then said quietly, and with his hand on her back, Alice sank down into the bath to wet her hair. Eric wordlessly squeezed some shampoo into her hands, and she began to work it into her hair. His hand still remained on her back. She then dipped back under the now slightly opaque bath water to get the foam out of her hand. When she surfaced again, she looked at Eric expectantly and he stood, grabbing a towel and holding it up. Alice got out of the bath and allowed him to wrap the towel around her, then take another one to dry off her hair a little.

She managed to give him a weak smile on her very pale face. He didn't need to do this, but he still was. He was still grimey with bits of rubble and dirt, but he apparently couldn't care less. Eric left her for a few minutes so she could dry her body, and he came back with one of her nighties, and one of the hotel's dressing gowns. He handed the nightie to her and he turned his back so that she could put it on. When Eric was sure she was dressed, he faced her once more and helped her into the dressing gown before guiding her out to sit on the bed.

"I'll be right back," Eric told Alice, and she nodded. He disappeared back into the bathroom and she heard the shower begin to run. He wasn't too long, and came out shirtless, with still very wet hair. He went and pulled on a long sleeved, black shirt and sat with her.

Eric put his arm around Alice and she leaned into him, her hand gripping his thigh tightly enough for her nails to dig in. He could feel her still-lingering panic and complete shock at what had happened. She was still absolutely terrified, but slowly but surely she was beginning to calm down. Too many bad things had happened to her in the past few days, and tonight had been the horrifying finale.

He was about to ask her something, when the door to the hotel room opened and in came Godric, hardly any dirt on him, but looking a little haunted. The ancient vampire closed the door and was by the two on the bed in an instant.

"Alice, are you all right?" he asked her gently, crouching and placing a hand on her knee. She didn't answer him, but her eyes flickered up to Eric.

"What would you expect?" Eric asked his maker in an even tone. "She freaked out back there. She threw up here."

"Oh Alice," Godric stood up, and cupped her cheek. "I'm truly sorry for what happened tonight. None of us were anticipating such an event would happen."

Alice once again didn't say anything, except for making a pained expression.

"Let's not talk about it," Eric suggested, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She then reached up and whispered something in his ear, before going back to leaning on him. "She wants water."

Godric nodded, shooting Alice a worried look before going to over to the cabinet above the sink which was next to the fridge, and taking out a glass, filling it up with cold water from the tap. He brought it to Alice, who took it and drank from it quickly. She reached over and placed it on the little bedside table before lying down, facing away from the both of them. Godric took that as his cue to go and use the bathroom, and Eric lay down on the other side of the bed, facing Alice.

The human woman took one look at him, tiredness present in her eyes as well as some fear, and she came as close as she possibly could to him, placing an arm around his waist and kissing him straight on the lips before placing her head under the crook of his chin. Surprised, Eric then wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him. One of his hands went to her hair and began to stroke it, and after a while it lulled her to sleep.

When Eric was sure she was not going to wake up, he carefully removed himself from her grasp and went to switch out the bedroom light, going to sit opposite his maker on the sofa.

"She'll be fine after a few days," Eric said quietly, and Godric nodded.

"You look after her well."

"I wouldn't call it that."

"I heard you say to her last night that you care about her."

Eric's lips twisted into a half smile.

"That's what friends do, right? Care about each other? Do... what I did tonight?"

"Yes. I suppose so," Godric then titled his head to the side slightly. "You've learnt from her. You've learnt to be kind."

"Don't start," Eric rolled his eyes. "I'd rather have that talk about my possible feelings with her. You only taught me survival or death."

"Indeed I did. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, that you've learnt from her."

"Yeah, well, she's learnt from me too," he shrugged. "Even if it was indirectly. She was brave when she was at the Fellowship. When she was placed with Sookie and the traitor. She did not panic, however it spilled out later."

"But she was still brave in the face of danger," Godric nodded in agreement.

"She's never been faced with situations like this before."

"Not that that is a bad thing. In time, she'll be able face terrible events with more ease. She won't react like she did today. If she does, it won't be as bad."

"I hope so. I enjoy her-" Eric cut short and sighed, running a hand through his still-damp hair. "I don't want to have her leave, because it all gets too much. She needs at least one of us to keep an eye on her, or she'll get into even more trouble."

"How many people know of her gift?"

"Us two, her mother, Sookie, Bill, his progeny Jessica, Pam and... a shifter back in Bon Temps called Sam."

"A shifter?"

"He holds a soft spot for her," Eric merely brushed it off. "He's not a danger to her."

"Try not to let that number increase, my son."

"Sookie, Bill, Jessica and Sam knowing was _not_ on the agenda, I assure you. It was by means of accident they found out. Apart from Bill. She willingly went to him with a few worries when we had a small disagreement one night, a couple of weeks after she first moved here."

"None of them have said anything, have they?"

Eric shook his head.

"They're good at keeping secrets since they have their own like the rest of us," soon after he sad those words, there was a light knock on the door. Eric went to go and answer it to find Sookie there. He turned back to Godric. "Keep an eye on her."

The Viking stepped out into the corridor, closing the door, but not all the way. He folded his arms as he looked down at Sookie. She looked quite shaken up herself, and he could hardly blame her. None of them had wanted to get caught in that explosion tonight, and none of them had been expecting it. He was somewhat surprised that she wasn't tucked up in bed next to Bill.

"Alice is sleeping," he said to her when she did not say anything first.

"Oh. Is she-"

"No. She's not exactly happy with what happened tonight."

"She didn't know it was going to happen?"

"If she did, the house would be empty and everyone would be here. Safe. Nobody would be dead."

"Ahh. That's true. I hope she'll be all right."

"Are you all right?" he felt inclined to ask her. It was only polite.

"Obviously better than Alice..." Sookie gave a sheepish smile. "Just let her know I'm here to chat."

"If she's up to chatting," he murmured.

"Huh?"

"She's hardly spoken since we got back here," he tilted his head slightly, listening for anything going on inside. "Good night Sookie. Get some rest. You look like you need it," Eric nodded at her before slipping back into the room and shutting the door with a click. The bedroom light was on and Godric was in there, comforting Alice who had woken up worried.

"He's here, Alice, he went to speak with Sookie..." Godric was saying to her. When Eric approached them, he looked at the blonde vampire and spoke directly to him. "She's scared, Eric, and wants you with her."

Eric gave Godric a startled look, but nodded and went round to the other side of the bed, getting on it once more and putting an arm around Alice. She pretty much burrowed into him, and Eric gave Godric one last glance before the older vampire went and turned off the lights again. It took a while, but soon the fear and worry phased out from Alice as she fell into another slumber, and Eric sighed. Perhaps Godric had been right about evolving. If the vampires had evolved first, The Fellowship of the Sun may not even exist. They wouldn't be here in Dallas right now. No bomb would have gone off. Alice wouldn't be terrified for her life, and Eric wouldn't have gone as soft as he had tonight.

* * *

Alice woke up hungry. She knew it was day time for Eric looked dead. He was still and unmoving, meaning it was difficult to get out of his grasp. She managed it and was relieved to find she had finally stopped shaking. She quickly got dressed and checked the time. It was just gone midday.

Walking into the living room about to leave, Alice stopped short when she saw Godric asleep on the sofa. A small idea popped into her head, and she looked around for a notepad and pen. She hurriedly wrote down on the paper:

_Eric and Godric,_

_Thank you._

_I owe you both._

_Alice._

She left the note on the coffee table, before walking out into the corridor, around about the same time Sookie had exit her room. The waitress gave her a smile before coming to hug her. Alice was tense at first, but then had her arms around her friend.

"Are you all right?" Sookie asked after they broke apart and began making their way towards the elevator. Alice merely shrugged, not sure what to say. "Eric said you weren't talking much."

"I had nothing to say," Alice said barely above a whisper. She was glad that Sookie seemed to be doing better than her.

"Do you want to do anything after we've eaten?" Sookie pushed the button to bring up the elevator. Alice shook her head, and they continued their way down in silence. To Alice, everything seemed to pass in a bit of blur. She wasn't really paying attention to Sookie as she talked on about the weather and what she'd end up doing when they left Dallas for home. Alice smiled politely, nodded or shook her head where appropriate, but her heart wasn't really set in doing anything much.

She didn't know how long the peace was going to last, but Alice knew it wouldn't last long. After a short while, she abruptly left Sookie, leaving her lunch unfinished. No, was the answer to Sookie's first question. No, she was not all right. She felt like she could hear the screams echo through her head once more as she returned to the hotel room. Allowing Sookie to talk on hadn't been a good idea. It was obvious she had been trying to avoid the subject of the previous night, hence why topics of conversation were dull and forced. Well, it was hardly a conversation when one person was talking and the other was barely listening. She had wanted to avoid it, but it was hard not to think about it when the avoidance of the topic was terrible.

Alice found it difficult to concentrate on her book that afternoon, curled up on the unoccupied sofa. Still reading the same book, _Let the Right One In_, but it was a long book. Occasionally when she was able to really indulge in it at points in the afternoon, she began to wonder what Sweden was like. It would be colder than other countries. Didn't the snow last five months? Maybe she should ask Eric. He'd know for sure. The thoughts of Sweden led her back to her book, and she was finding it easier to keep reading.

She didn't even notice Godric and Eric had risen, until of course the taller of the two came and sat next to her. Alice shut her book and studied Eric with some scrutiny for a while, then the tiniest of smiles came to her face.

"Are you allergic to all colours except for black?" she asked him, a little louder than when she had spoken to Sookie.

"Found your voice again?" was all he said.

"I'm not sure yet," she said shyly, going to rest her head in his lap and stretching out on the sofa. Eric tensed up slightly, but then he came to relax as the minutes wore on.

"Have you eaten?" Godric said, moving her legs and placing them in his lap as he sat down. Alice nodded. "Have you spoken with Sookie?"

"A bit," she then mumbled. Alice suddenly became aware of what was going on around her. "Wait. Are my legs in your lap, Godric?"

"Yes."

"Is my head in Eric's lap?"

"Indeed it is," said the blonde vampire.

"Did... did either of you two read the note I put out?" she frowned a little.

"We did. You're welcome, by the way."

Alice sat up straight, and looked between the two vampires.

"I wish you could glamour away last night for me. Well, not the entire night, but... the explosion," she said, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.

"You cannot be glamoured?" Godric asked, and she shook her head.

"I wasn't aware of it either," Eric then said. "Until of course I tried it."

"Why did you try to glamour her?"

"It's a long story for another time. It's all in the past. Things have changed since then," Alice said quickly, jumping to Eric's defence. She was surprised with herself. Maybe she had been all right with Sookie, but hadn't acknowledged it because she was too preoccupied. The worry seemed to have dissipated when talking with Eric and Godric a little more actively.

"Somebody's feeling better," Eric smirked.

"That might be down to you two. You've both been... patient with me, the past couple of days," she smiled at the both of them and then got up, making her way over to the bedroom. "I know you two have only just gotten up, but I'm still tired."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Sleep well," said Godric, and soon enough the bedroom light was off. The two vampires sat in silence until they were both sure she was asleep. "Eric-"

"Don't. I've not gone soft, Godric, if that's what you were going to say," he huffed, and Godric shook his head.

"I was not going to say anything like that. At all. She says we have been patient with her, and patience is not something that comes to you very easily, my son."

Eric was silent for a few minutes, before he answered.

"How can I not be patient with her, when she's patient with me? How can I not be kind to her, when she is kind to me? Cares for me, even. I don't understand it – her," he shook his head in disbelief.

"Perhaps it is because the pair of you have spent a lot of time together," Godric suggested. "You've been _helping_ her, Eric, through something which she did not understand. She is most definitely grateful for what you have done for her so far."

"So far, yeah," Eric scoffed. "Who knows what I might do in the future? Will I keep being friendly with her, or will that stop entirely because we realised we can't stand each other?"

"I doubt that will happen," Godric paused for a moment. "I have said to you about how I think vampires as a whole have not evolved, and that we are _all_ monsters. You and I both, Eric, because we are. I'm trying to atone for what I've done the past two thousand years, but... I truly believe – even if I do not know her as well as you – that Alice sees past that monster within you. She sees the good in you. Last night, before everything went to turmoil, she was talking with Sookie. Alice was _proud_ to call you her friend."

"I'm hardly good, and I'm a terrible friend."

"You can't say that, not after the past few days. If you were not good, and were such a terrible friend, would you have sat with her while she emptied her stomach in the bathroom? Lay with her because she had been afraid?" he gave Eric a pointed look. "Those were _good_ actions."

"Good actions that will probably not be repeated," Eric grumbled, and Godric sighed.

"I know you find it hard to comprehend this, but I can see the good in you too. I always have done. Even if you have done horrific things in the past like myself. I taught you how to live an eternal life the wrong way, Eric, but Alice can teach you the right way. As you can teach her how to be brave, and maybe even to fight, if she ever needs it," Godric stood and made his way over to the fridge, taking out two TruBlood and placing them in the microwave so that they could be heated. "Alice is a fragile person, with an equally fragile mind at the current time. Teach her your strength. _Give_ her your strength."

The microwave beeped and Godric came back over to Eric, handing him one of the bottles. Eric eyed the synthetic blood for a moment before taking a sip and making a face.

"I can try," he then said to Godric, and that pleased his maker enough.

* * *

**I kind of got annoyed watching the show and finding that _Sookie and Jason seemed kind of calm when the explosion happened._ I'm sorry, but if a bomb goes off _anywhere _no-one should be calm. It's a traumatic thing to go through and it would affect a lot of people differently. I mean, I have never been stuck in a situation like that, but when the London bombings happened, my dad was very close to the area where one occurred, and he was very shaken himself when he got home, even though he wasn't hurt. So yeah, that is why Alice was the way she was during that chapter, because of the fact loads of people around her were dead or injured and it was just carnage. Especially when it really set in what had just happened.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, especially the conversations between Godric and Eric. That's been around for a while, actually. Also the next chapter is the rooftop scene... who knows what I've decided...**

**Comment?  
**

**Livvy x**


	28. Goodbyes?

**You're all going to enjoy this chapter. Not. Or the point of view I do it from. At least try to enjoy ;)**

* * *

The next night revealed to everyone that Nan Flanagan was a bitch.

That was the only way Alice could describe her. It was like she didn't even care that humans and vampires alike had died in that explosion. All she cared about was the image the vampire community were giving to the humans, so that they could remain in the good books. All Alice could hear was annoying, bitchy moaning about the whole situation. 'Blah blah, this is a huge disaster, blah.'

What was even worse, was that Godric had been removed as Sheriff of Area Nine, something of which irked Alice a little, but Eric greatly. He made an outburst which nearly cost him his position as Sheriff of Area Five. Alice kicked Eric in the foot and he didn't speak again after that, although remained tense. Flanagan even disregarded the fact that Godric had saved herself and Sookie from a rapist, as well as the entire church which had been full of vampires and humans. Sookie was right – it could have been a _whole_ lot worse.

Then with the worst possible timing, the vision of Godric burning in the sun pushed itself forward in Alice's mind, and she too became tense. She could feel Eric's eyes on her, but she could only look at Godric, who only once flickered his gaze to her. That was when he told Flanagan that he had offered himself to the Fellowship, because he wanted to burn. The surprise hanged in the room for quite some time, and then it was high time for the vampire rights activist to leave.

Godric said something about going up to the roof, and Alice almost told him not to, but then she realised if she did, then that would reveal herself to Eric and he'd be _very_ unhappy that she had kept something from him.

"There is definitely something wrong," Eric murmured to her as they watched Godric leave.

"Maybe you should go to him?" Alice suggested. "Talk to him, see if there is anything wrong," she hated keeping everything from him. It wasn't fair, but if Godric had wanted Eric to know, he would have told him.

"You tried that and it didn't work."

"But _you_ haven't tried it," Alice rubbed her forehead, trying to keep calm. "Go," she gently pushed him in the direction of the door and then turned towards Sookie and Bill.

"What was that all about?" Sookie asked her, and Alice shook her head, pacing up and down in front of them.

"It's complicated. Well, it's not, but it is and isn't..."

"Is... is Godric going up to the roof to...?"

"I... yes. He is," Alice sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Does Eric know you know?"

"I wasn't even supposed to know, so of course he doesn't," she was aware that she starting to become a little fretful.

"We have to stop him," Sookie began to make her way to the door, but Alice jumped in front of her. "Alice, move."

"Let him talk with Eric."

"The sun could be coming up at any time soon and I owe Godric-"

"No. Sookie, you don't owe Godric. He may have saved the both of us at the Fellowship but you don't owe him a thing. Don't make yourself deal with this, _please_."

"Alice-" Sookie tried to get past her once more, but Alice shook her head and didn't let her.

"I won't let you. I'm sorry," tears were brimming in Alice's eyes and she looked at Bill who took hold of Sookie. "You can't be involved."

Those were her last words before she fled from the room.

* * *

Godric left shortly after Nan Flanagan, making his way up and up to the roof of the hotel. He stood and looked out over the skyline of Dallas, his hands behind his back. He shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the night on his skin for the last time. He knew that Eric and Alice were on their way to stop him, but he couldn't live on any more.

Two thousand years of roaming the earth, killing countless numbers of people. It had all become far too much for him. He couldn't live with the guilt, but thought that if he offered himself willingly to the sun and burned, all those who he had killed may just forgive him. He would be able to find peace, somewhere. Would God _allow_ him to have peace? Even if he did burn to atone for his sins? Or would he punished for two thousand years worth of murder and being an abomination to the human race? To the entire _world_?

Godric and sighed, opening his eyes. Dawn was approaching, as was his progeny. Eric was perhaps his best achievement throughout his long life, but he had taught him wrong. Godric realised that now, and told these realisations to Eric the previous night. Did that mean he had evolved? Maybe, maybe not. It was all he could do now. Admit everything he had done was truly wrong. That was the ounce of good he could find in himself now. That, and the fact he had been able to keep half of his promise to Rosalind. He may not have protected Alice, but he had kept an eye on her from a distance.

_Rosalind_. He would be able to see her again, after many years. He had been invited to the funeral but because it had been during the day... well, he was unable to go. He still missed her smiling face, her don't-mess-with-me attitude. Appearances were so deceiving. A small smile came to his face. He had never really stopped loving her, but he had always been happy for her, whatever she had chosen to do. Even if it was marrying a human and having children.

"Godric?" his son's voice pulled him from his thoughts. He turned around to see Eric approaching him. "What is this?"

"I have lived for far too long, Eric. I have done too many terrible deeds," he replied. "I don't belong here. _We _don't belong here."

"But we are here though," Eric countered.

"Our existence is insanity."

"You planning to meet the _sun_ is insanity!" he was angry and upset, Godric knew that. The look on Eric's face when he realised that Godric was truly going to burn was that of heart break. But Godric could not bring himself to feel that, not now. "What about Alice? What about _me_?" blood was beginning to form in the corners of Eric's eyes.

"You'll take care of each other. That much is obvious. I told you last night what to do, Eric. Give her your strength," Godric said sincerely.

"You were supposed to tell her what she is..."

"That was always your job. It was never mine, but always _yours_. You've known longer than I have that there is a name to what she can do. Tell her."

Eric was shaking his head, and the blood trickled down his face. He sank to his knees, and Godric ran his hand through the blonde hair of his son.

"_Please,_" Eric said in Swedish. "_Godric don't do this, please, please."_

At this point, the door to the roof opened once more, and Alice came outside. Godric glanced her momentarily.

"_There are centuries of love and faith between us,"_ he replied to Eric in Swedish. "_Father, brother... son."_

"I won't let you die alone," Eric sniffed, his face becoming stony. Alice rushed over at that point and dropped to her knees beside him, Godric moving his hand.

"Eric, don't. Don't say that," she said to him quietly, clutching his arm. Godric looked at the pair of them. She was desperate to keep Eric away from the sun, but she was not harsh with her words. She was gentle with him. Her hand reached up to cup his cheek and turn his head to look at her. "Go inside, please, I don't want either one of you burning, let alone together... I can stay out here, I can try and get Godric to come inside"

"No. I will not let him die alone," he repeated to her.

"As your maker, I command you. Go inside, my son," Godric told Eric. The younger vampire then rose, Alice standing with him. He kissed her forehead, and squeezed her shoulder before shrugging out of her grip and leaving the two of them on the roof. Alice faced Godric, the tears threatening to spill over.

"Please, Godric, you- you _can't._"

"I have to. If I am ever to be forgiven for what I have done, then I must do this. You would understand after living for two thousand years as a monster like myself."

"But you're not a monster. You've been so kind to me, and you were in love with my grandmother. What sort of monster can love or even care?" he could tell she was thinking of Eric, when she said the last part. "You are not a monster. No matter _what_ the Fellowship thinks, or what you think about the evolution of vampires," Alice shook her head. "That wasn't a good idea, going to them."

"I thought it might fix everything," he admitted sheepishly. He turned to look at the city once more, and Alice came to stand next to him. He looked down at her hand, wanting to take it, wanting to feel human comfort in his last few minutes on earth. The sun was still dark, but he could feel the sun approaching. "Shut it out, Alice," he ripped the glove off her hand and took it suddenly and she gasped, shocked, but then she evidently had done as he said, somehow, and quickly.

"Wow. I've not had that for a while," she said, then she looked at him as he watched the city. "Godric, you may have killed in the past, but... surely this is not the best thing to do?"

"It is the only way to atone for my sins," Godric said.

"What about Eric and I? He needs you, and I feel like I would need you."

"My future is a blank. You know that."

"But that can change, _please_ Godric, just come inside," she tried tugging him in the direction of the stair well, but he was like a statue. Unmoving. She stood still next to him, and with his sensitive hearing, he could hear her tear drops splash on the ground. "This isn't option when you have so much to live for," her voice was thick her sadness and tears. "Your vampire family – Eric and Pam... you could live for me, because we'd be good friends. Really good friends. You could help me-"

"Eric is helping you, and he will continue to do so. Besides, if there is an afterlife, Rosalind will welcome me into her arms. I have missed her."

"You never stopped loving her, did you?"

"How could I not?" Godric replied softly. "She was the first human in all my life to actually show me kindness, and compassion. Much like you did Eric."

"He finds it odd. He doesn't understand."

"My death will help him understand that. You're always going to continue to be gentle and patient with him and his moods."

"Your death will make him mad. He'll hate me for not saying anything about this before, and he'll hate me for not talking you down if you die. Notice how I say if?" she sounded bitter. "Me and my stupid heart of hope."

Those words struck Godric like silver. He had said she had a heart of hope, but she was beginning to doubt that, all because he wanted to die. But he _had_ to die. He had to be forgiven. He had to be gone from this world. He was an abomination like the rest of vampire kind.

"You say you want to be forgiven by those you have killed... have you thought about the fact Eric and I may not forgive you? I may not know you as well as him, but I feel close to you already," Alice sounded despairing. "And now you want to go. Permanently. With no way for either of us to see you ever again. That's not fair on us. It's easier for you, but it's not for us – not for any of the lives you've touched with the _goodness_ in you. Please don't do this, Godric, please," Alice let go of his hand and threw her arms around him, beginning to cry into his shoulder. "I don't want you to go. Especially for Eric's sake."

Godric put his arms around her, and stroked her hair softly, the same way he had done with Eric a few minutes before. He looked out over her shoulder, and saw the sky beginning to lighten. Could he still go through with this? Should he go back inside and join his son? The night on his skin was beginning to fade as the sun slowly started to rise. He was beginning to feel warm, which was when he noticed something about the smell of the air around him, and the smell of Alice. He pulled away from her.

"Being here, being in the start of the rising dawn and around you... Alice has Eric ever told you that you smell of the sun?" he looked at her with joy, and she shook her head, a bemused expression crossing it. "You are sunshine, Alice."

"Then I can be your sun. Not the one that's going to... burn you. The one to keep you alive."

Godric shook his head.

"You're Eric's sun. No-one else's," he paused for a moment, the warmth ever increasing. "Do you believe in God?"

"No. I believe that when you die, you simply return to your loved ones. No pearly gates, no God, no Jesus, just your loved ones," she bit her lip. "Because that's all that matters in the end. That is always _all_ that matters ever. No fucking deities can help you through life. It's just you, your family and your friends," more tears, tears that were hastily wiped away only to be replaced. "Godric, please..."

He shook his head. He must go through with this. He could see Rosalind again. Even all her predecessors. He did not belong on her earth any more, not because he was a monster, but because most of the people's lives he had touched with goodness were long gone. Only a small handful remained on earth, among those Eric and Alice. It was their time together, and he could not be a part of that.

"In my two thousand years of life, I never thought I would die with a human at my side. Least of all, one as special as you," he smiled at her, as small wisps of smoke began to rise from his skin. "There is a name to what you are, and Eric can tell you."

"Godric-" her voice came out so small and broken. "Are you scared?"

"Why would I be scared when I have you here with me? I wouldn't be scared anyway – I am happy. The happiest I have been in my life. I'm doing the right thing, I know it. I can feel it... I want to burn, Alice."

"I'm scared for you. I wish you weren't doing this."

"You say you do not believe in God because it does not matter, but the fact _you_ are here with me at the end, with your tears and emotions... even after two thousand years, I'm still surprised. And Alice? That is how I see God. I hope he forgives me."

"Anyone could forgive you."

"You said you may not forgive me."

"Give me time and I might," she smiled at him. Godric smiled at her once more, and turned to face the first rays of the sun shining past the buildings of Dallas. He held out his arm to signal for her to stand back, and he heard her move away. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, discarding it on the ground. Godric braced himself for the pain, but he knew in his heart he would not feel much. At his age, it would be quick and then he would be gone. Nothing more than dust.

The sun struck him properly, and he felt his body catch fire in a blue flame. He never turned to look back at Alice, but he heard her say goodbye to him. All he saw in front of him as he faded to nothing in the human world, were the arms of Rosalind calling to him. A few more seconds and he would only be dust.

Godric shut his eyes in his last few moments on earth. When he opened them again, he was looking upon the smiling face of Rosalind Eva Carter, taking him into her embrace.

And he cried with joy.

* * *

**I feel like a terrible person for doing this, killing off Godric, but I just felt it would end up too much like other Eric/OC stories, with Eric being jealous that the OC likes hanging around with Godric and yeah. But anyway, I hope you guys still liked this chapter!**

**Comment?**

**Livvy x**


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